Is there a possibility that the kovid vaccine is mandatory for everyone?

Vaccine, corona, Photo: AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko

Emergency vaccinations may be prescribed for other diseases, not only for those listed in the law, and now it is a great novelty.

Is there a possibility that the kovid vaccine is mandatory for everyone? How will those who refuse vaccination be penalized? Who will be exempt from receiving the vaccine? All these are just some of the issues that are circulating in the public after the Assembly of Serbia recently approved amendments to the Law on Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases.

Would you get a coronavirus vaccine?

What has changed since then and whether mandatory vaccination can be introduced in Serbia, answered experts in the field of law and medicine.

The main change is that there is now room to make a decision on emergency or mandatory vaccination if ever necessary, says legal and legal expert Marko Jovicic.

– An extraordinary vaccination can also be determined for other diseases, not only for those listed in the law, and that is now the main novelty. The Minister of Health, at the proposal of the Commission and the Institute, may order an emergency vaccination. That decision is now within its competence and is made through a special decree – he explains.

Registration follows first

Only when the vaccine is registered for use will it be defined whether emergency immunization against kovid-19 will be carried out as mandatory or recommended.

– Whether emergency immunization will be recommended or mandatory is determined by an act of the Minister of Health, in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, at the proposal of the Serbian Institute of Public Health “Trampolín” and with the consent of the Commission of Experts of the Republic in Infectious Diseases. For certain occupations, the kovid vaccine will probably have to be mandatory, so as not to endanger other people. For others, it will be very difficult to introduce such a measure, although some countries are considering introducing a system for those who do not get vaccinated to pay for treatment themselves if they become infected. I think that in the 21st century, prison and coercion are really not an option that anyone is considering – explains Jovicic.

Also, according to the Law on Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases, a fine of 50,000 to 150,000 dinars has long been envisaged for a natural person if he refuses mandatory immunization and does not act in accordance with the regulations.

– The same would probably be the case when it comes to mandatory emergency immunization as ordered by the Minister of Health. In the case of a contagious disease for which there is a danger of transmission, the recommended or mandatory vaccination can be determined for all people, or certain categories, and the law prescribes penalties for those who would reject mandatory vaccination in that case, he says.

According to the part of the law that also remained the same and has not been modified, there are lists of diseases for which vaccination is not mandatory, but recommended, such as chickenpox, HPV infection, hepatitis A and B, flu, streptococcal diseases , pneumonia …

The law has regulated everything for a long time

According to epidemiologists, there are not many developments in the new law, but only what already existed is described and explained in more detail.

– I think that the kovid vaccine will be recommended, not mandatory, especially at the beginning when there are not enough doses of vaccines for everyone. A vaccine against influenza and contagious jaundice is mandatory for health workers, it is logical that it is also mandatory against kovid, because they are on the front line. The penalty for those who refuse compulsory vaccination will be dismissal from work, I don’t think there will be penalties greater than that. However, everything that is being talked about now has existed in the law for a long time, says Dr. Zoran Radovanović.