COVID-19 in Malaysia: Are differentiated measures for vaccinated citizens causing negative societal implications?

Many countries are adopting differentiated COVID-19 regulations that permits vaccinated individuals to enjoy greater social and entertainment perks as compared to those unvaccinated.

Such measures are liberating for vaccinated persons, but it is perceived as an ‘inequality’ for unvaccinated individuals.

To overcome that ‘inequality’, Malaysian residents have created a black market for vaccination certificates, where private clinics and general practitioners are seeing a demand for digital vaccination certificates. Bids for these certificates are as high as RM1,000 (US$320).

In some areas, it goes beyond the tangible value of the certificate. Individuals have attempted to ‘coordinate’ an act of getting the vaccine administered by staff at the vaccination centre. All that amount of effort, just to avoid a vaccine.

What is intriguing about this black market is that unvaccinated individuals would rather pay RM1,000 for a fake certificate, with a likelihood of getting caught, rather than paying RM320 for the vaccination itself.

Such incidents act as a continual reminder for countries to consider all angles before implementing a national strategy. Loopholes will certainly be identified by residents and will be exploited, just as how residents in Singapore were caught manipulating their TraceTogether applications to portray that they are fully vaccinated.

The eye-opener in this case is that an aggressive strategy needs to be combined with effective communication, on-the-ground tactics and a strong legislation.

When these aspects are married together, residents will come to an understanding that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may be a personal choice–but it is also an ethical decision which impacts the society at large.

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