The unvaccinated should not be entitled to a Pandemic Unemployment Payment. That’s according to Royal College of Ireland Professor in Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences Dermot Cox.
He’s written in the letter’s section of the Irish Times newspaper today outlining his views on why those who are unvaccinated should not be in reciept of state supports if they lose work or their job on a full-time basis as a result of the recently re-imposed restriction as a result in the spike in Covid-19 cases over recent months and the recent development that has seen the rise of the Omicron varient in South Africa.
International travel has naturally resulted in the spread of the new varient with many, many cases in the UK while yesterday the government here outlined that six cases were present in Ireland as of Thursday.
Professor Cox based his contention on smoking, and how society now demands and expects no one smokes in work, restaurants or on public transport and that society also demands a punitive tax on cigarettes with the subsequent health complications that arise from cigarette smoking that impact upon thousands of people annually.
He says people must protect themselves from smoking and its ill-effects and so it should also insolate itself from the worst effects of COVID-19 by ”isolating‘‘ those who refuse to disclose their vaccine status, consequently he argues they should not be entitled to the pandemic employment payment as they are not contributing to the fight against Covid-19.
Here is is letter in today’s Irish Times:
Sir, – While there may be short-term benefits in a compulsory vaccination for Sars-CoV-2, in the long-term it may undermine the other important vaccination programmes that we have.
People have a right to maintain the confidentiality of their health record and to refuse to receive any medication or treatment no matter how illogical the reason, but society also has a right/obligation to protect itself.
The classic example is smoking. People have a right to smoke but society has insisted that they cannot do it in work, restaurants, public transport, etc. Furthermore, we require them to make a financial contribution to their future care in the form of a heavy tax on cigarettes.
Just as with smokers, society has the right to protect itself from infection with Sars-CoV-2 by isolating those who refuse to disclose their vaccine status.
Furthermore, they should not be entitled to the pandemic employment payment as they are not contributing to the fight against Covid-19. People have a right to dine in a restaurant without being exposed to cigarette smoke or being infected with Sars-CoV-2.
– Yours, etc,
Prof DERMOT COX
School of Pharmacy
and Biomolecular Sciences,
RCSI, Dublin.
