UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet asserts 'forced vaccination is not acceptable'

In a video address to a Human Rights Council seminar on December 8, UN's human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet stressed that forced vaccination is t acceptable. She added that countries adopting vaccine mandates in fight against  COVID-19 must guarantee that human rights are respected.

According to a transcript issued by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bachelet stated, "Vaccine mandates must comply with principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and n-discrimination. In circumstances should people be forcibly administered a vaccine."

Moreover, she furr added that COVID-19 vaccination access has been startlingly unequal over world. In low-income nations, only 8% of adults had received first dose of vaccine by December 1, compared to 65% in high-income countries. She stated that ne of us will be safe until we are all safe. Currently, pandemic is being prolonged due to a lack of universal and equitable vaccination availability and distribution, she ted adding that his pandemic is a huge worldwide problem that necessitates a coordinated international response.

Any requirement must ensure that vaccines are actually available & affordable

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that goals pursued by governments considering mandates to preserve lives as Europe and or regions grapple with pandemic surges were of course of greatest order of legitimacy and importance. However, she furr added that vaccine mandates should be used only when it's necessary to achieve compelling public health goals. She also emphasised that any requirement must ensure that vaccines are actually available and affordable in order for m to be accepted.

She stated, "unless all people have genuine, practical access to vaccines, vaccine requirements will t be consistent with fundamental human rights principles of equality and n-discrimination. This pandemic is far from over. Already, it has damd lives and human rights of billions of people. We will t stem that dam, and we will t recover from it, until vaccines and treatments are available for all, in every country, without any form of discrimination."

According to her, this is certainly a human rights commitment that every government must fulfil. She concluded by saying that previous two years have demonstrated unfathomable consequences of vast inequities and gaps in human rights.

Im: AP