Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
There are few (if any) issues as polarising in the world today as the appropriate response to Covid-19; vaccinations, facemasks, social distancing and lockdowns all have their own proponents and dissidents, and with attitudes varying from country to country it is nigh impossible to formulate a universal solution. Boris Johnson in the UK for instance has adopted what is very much a ‘hands-off’ approach to Omicron, conceding that whilst this may place pressure upon the healthcare system that the nation can "ride out" the latest influx of infections without having to endure economically and socially damaging curbs. Emmanuel Macron in France however has a considerably more ‘hands-on’ approach towards Omicron, proposing draft laws for vaccine passes and not so delicately vowing to "piss off" unvaccinated citizens.
The inconsistent application of responses to the pandemic is detrimental to efforts to attempt to control it, but in large part is unfortunately made necessary by inconsistent social response to proposed solutions. A pandemic of resistance does appear to be not so silently sweeping nations like France and the UK – 105,000+ French citizens took to the streets to protest a proposed vaccine pass by President Macron, the UK has similarly seen certain anti-lockdown protests between protesters and police become violent. One of the core tenets of these protests is that pandemic measures are an affront to personal liberties, protestors often justify their actions along the lines of the government failing to adequately protect these. So, how can world leaders realistically proceed forward with their approaches to containing the virus. How do citizens in our nation feel and how could this potentially inform government policy going forward?
France: too hot?
President Macron’s vow to "piss off" unvaccinated citizens has been critiqued for being overzealous. The anger of the citizens in response to this has reached boiling point and it has begun to spill over, with vaccination centres being vandalised and politicians receiving death threats for supporting Macron. The majority of us will surely agree that vaccinations should be promoted to the general public, although to promote them at the expense of people’s liberties and through coercion seems a step too far – Macron may very well have good intentions but his strong-arm approach is not the most palatable one. The decision to take the vaccine must be a personal decision and this approach mudies those waters, coercing a decision at the perceived expense of one’s liberty would be a pyrrhic victory in the long-term. Newton’s Third Law holds true here, and the government’s decision to impose vaccinations on citizens has been met with an equal and opposite reaction from the people, and may be counterproductive to Macron’s future efforts to encourage vaccinations once the public’s temperature has cooled down in France. Certainly, for the time being it appears as if all this approach has done is retrench existing attitudes. At the time of writing, 74.2% of French citizens are fully vaccinated, but use of the stick rather than the carrot may have just made it harder to get through to the remaining 25.8% – which is needless to say a sizable chunk.
"@HegKong : I wonder how many still undecided about getting the jab rushed out to make an appointment after hearing Macron calling them sub-human non-citizen and idiots by Tony Blair?"
The UK: too cold?
Boris Johnson, in comparison, has been critiqued by many for his approach simply not doing enough. With 150,000 deaths now having been reported as a result of the virus in the UK, the official rhetoric remains to “ride out” the latest wave and to not introduce any further measures. Understandably the economic, social and political costs must all be considered in making such a choice, but there is the risk that even if a lockdown was to be imposed that people simply would not follow it – in no small part due to the erosion of trust Johnson himself has presided over.
Johnson however appears to be approaching it as if there is a binary solution; full lockdown or no-lockdown, which is simply not the case as evidenced by the lockdown restrictions implemented back in April 2020. Regardless of one’s partisan alignment there is surely one simple thing upon which we can all agree – our current rate of infections and deaths cannot continue and something simply has to be done, soon. Johnson’s current approach is ‘too cold’ in the sense that he is not doing enough to control the situation, but that does not mean he has to overcompensate and adopt an approach that is ‘too hot’ for the public. Indeed, the time has perhaps come where the carrot is no longer working and the stick is now required – Johnson should however be using this out of choice and not necessity by losing control of the situation.
What is ‘just right’?
Johnson, like Goldilocks, has three salient approaches which he could adopt in the fight against Covid-19; lockdown, restrictions or the third approach of doing nothing (his personal favourite). The PM can learn from the social responses to the lockdowns imposed by both himself and by Macron – Macron’s coercive lockdown is ‘too hot’ and has elicited a fiery response from the citizens of France, Johnson’s approach however is ‘too cold’ and he now faces criticism for seemingly not doing enough. The ‘just right’ approach appears to lie somewhere between the two and this points towards restrictions. Johnson may not necessarily want to impose a lockdown but this does not mean he has to do nothing.
Covid restrictions appear to not just be necessary but the most socially palatable option for the UK. While it is admirable that he is upholding liberties rather than imposing restrictions it is also irresponsible, restrictions will help curb the spread of the virus whilst maintaining our civil liberties as much as possible. Johnson’s current inaction risks necessitating a lockdown at a time where lockdown apathy grips the UK, and the spark of a lockdown may ignite the societal powder keg which already appears to be primed to explode. Johnson needs to reconsider his approach and decide which approach is ‘just right’, before it is too late.
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