Regarding the forced internment of Japanese-American citizens by the United States government during the second world war, the comedian George Carlin once remarked:

“They had no right to a lawyer, no right to a fair trial, no right to a jury of their peers, no right to due process of any kind. The only right they had: right this way, into the internment camps. Just when these American citizens needed their rights the most, their government took them away. And rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away.”

Most people are rightfully appalled when confronted with this historical fact. To curtail the basic human rights of a minority, without evidence of wrongdoing, seems like something only a despot would do. Nevertheless, it happened. What’s more, it happened in the supposedly freest country on earth. It was, of course, justified at the time as an emergency measure meant to keep the public safe. And who could argue with that?

The internment of Japanese Americans turned out to be a racist mistake. Oh, well. At least we learned our lesson, right? Sadly, the corona virus outbreak would suggest otherwise, with politicians seemingly eager to deprive millions of unvaccinated individuals of their fundamental rights, once again in the name of safety. It seems that all is fair in love and war, as well as pandemic.

Governments around the world have exploited the pandemic to consolidate power and crack down on their citizens. Nowhere is this more evident than in Australia, where politicians were among the first to succumb to the authoritarian impulse and enact emergency legislation. Strict lockdowns and curfews followed, barring people from traveling freely within their own country, or even beyond their own neighborhood. The police were naturally keen to abuse you if you were caught outside without a mask. For your health, of course.

Meanwhile, a vast segment of the US population had been deemed “non-essential”, and people were told to put their lives on hold. We all obliged, for how could we not? Our rights were being held hostage. The ransom note stipulated that life would return to normal once vaccines became available. Yet, it soon became apparent that even high vaccination rates and widespread restrictions had failed to curb the spread of the virus, which seemed to ebb and flow unhindered as the seasons came and went.

Globally, frustration was building in response to this apparent failure, particularly when so many politicians had broken their own rules. However, governments found the ideal scapegoat. It wasn’t the fault of the vaccinated, for they had been obedient. Rather, the pandemic would go away if only the unvaccinated would comply. Cities around the US began requiring proof of vaccination for indoor gatherings. In Europe, the Austrian government introduced lockdowns for unvaccinated individuals, only allowing them to leave their homes for essential tasks, and heavily fining those that disobeyed. Vaccine mandates soon followed, in spite of massive protests. What began as “two weeks to flatten the curve” morphed into mask mandates, vaccine passports and quarantine camps two years later. All in the name of trusting The Science^TM.

I strongly urge every eligible adult to get vaccinated against the corona virus, particularly if they are above the age of fifty or have underlying medical conditions. The corona vaccines are, on the whole, very safe and the best tool available to prevent severe disease. Some people have, nevertheless, chosen to abstain, and there are rational reasons to do so. As an immunologist, I contend that vaccination is the safer bet, but it’s not for me to roll the dice. Stripping the unvaccinated of their fundamental rights will not change their minds, and infringing on bodily autonomy by mandating vaccination will only sow further resentment and distrust of public institutions.

Restrictive measures that target unvaccinated individuals, however well intended, do not protect the public, as they fail to take into account the nature of corona virus transmission. Namely, the vaccines do not create a magical shield that prevents pathogens from entering the airways. On the contrary, vaccinated (or previously infected) individuals can still contract the virus, shed it at high levels and spread it to others. If anything, they’re likely to experience milder symptoms and be unaware that they’re transmitting disease, whereas one can be unvaccinated and neither carry nor shed a single virion. Hence, the vaccines are primarily a means of self-defense, and vaccination status does not tell us whether someone is infectious. But a corona test will, and a lot of suffering could have been prevented if more attention was given to this fact. To demand proof of vaccination, and demonize those that lack it as uniquely dangerous vectors of disease, does not make scientific sense, and we may as well blame the pandemic on miasma. Yet, vaccinated people are seemingly afraid of being around unvaccinated individuals. It went from “we’re all in this together” to “unvaccinated should not be admitted to a hospital”. Fear and ignorance have once again driven people to demand oppression against the other. You know, just in case.

We all receive a compulsory vaccine cocktail as children to attend school, so why not mandate this one? Although this might make sense at first glance, the examples are not comparable. Young children have an immature immune system, which unfortunately renders them particularly vulnerable to many infectious diseases (although thankfully not the corona virus). It makes perfect sense to vaccinate children against deadly and contagious microbes that they are likely to be exposed to in crowded classrooms. Children cannot make informed decisions about such matters, so we decide for them. It’s an altogether different situation to forcibly vaccinate adults against a virus that statistically poses a very low threat to them, and bar them from participating in public life should they refuse, even if they’ve acquired natural immunity.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the authoritarian response to the pandemic is more worrying than the virus itself. After all, the virus didn’t increase substance abuse and exacerbate mental illness. Forced lockdowns did. The virus didn’t rob children of their education. Forced school closures did. The virus didn’t cause workers and small business owners to lose their livelihoods, while protecting large corporations. Governments did. The virus didn’t increase poverty and starvation. Artificially disrupted supply chains did. The virus didn’t patrol public streets and demand to see your papers. Police and military did. The virus isn’t sowing hatred and division in society. Journalists and politicians are. What’s more, these consequences disproportionately affect poor and already marginalized communities, and may persist for years to come. That is the real corona crisis.

The US government was under considerable pressure after the attack on Pearl Harbor. People were scared, and something had to be done. Unfortunately, instead of admitting to its own failure to protect its borders, the government shifted blame onto a segment of its own population, with enthusiastic support from the corporate media. And sure, the Japanese Americans weren’t tortured or killed, but the trauma they faced at the hands of the state was real, and the persecution and ostracism they experienced by their fellow citizens lingers to this day. Now, eighty years later, our principles are being tested once more. Either we implement a corona caste system or the blood of the elderly is on our hands, so we are told. But, this is a false dichotomy. We can uphold our basic human rights and maintain a free society, while at the same time protect the most vulnerable among us, without succumbing to tribalism and falsely scapegoating a whole sector of the population. To those in power, there seems to be doubt. I, on the other hand, firmly reject segregating society into privileged and second-class citizens, clean and unclean, enlightened and ignorant, and instead embrace freedom and dignity for all people. We all have the right to stroll through the park, use public transportation, dine at a restaurant, shop at a grocery store, attend a concert or go to the cinema. We all have the right to meet and embrace our loved ones, and we all deserve to live free of oppression. Our rights are not up for discussion.