"If a shop assistant or a bus driver can be forced to be vaccinated, then so should Members of Parliament!”, János Bencsik said.Continue reading
A left-wing and a moderate commentator call on the government to introduce mandatory vaccination. Without explicitly endorsing vaccine mandates, a pro-government columnist lambasts Western European anti-vaxxer protesters.
Hungarian press roundup by budapost.eu
In 24.hu, György Balavány calls on the government to mandate vaccination in order to ‘save the country’ from the 3 million unvaccinated. The left-wing Christian pundit believes that those who have not yet taken the jab cannot be convinced by rational arguments. Balavány finds absurd the suggestion that vaccine mandates would infringe on the freedom and autonomy of anti-vaxxers. On the contrary, he argues that in the absence of full societal vaccination, the vaccinated cannot practice their freedom as they too suffer from the consequences of the lockdown. In order to defend the freedom and rights of the vaccinated, mandatory vaccination needs to be introduced, Balavány contends.
On Portfolio, József Hornyák goes so far as to claim that we live in the ‘dictatorship of the unvaccinated’. The commentator also thinks that restrictions and lockdowns are introduced to protect the unvaccinated, while the economic and health related consequences harm even those who have already been immunized against Covid-19. Hornyák claims the pandemic will not be over as long as there are unvaccinated people. In order for normal life to return, vaccine mandates are necessary, Hornyák concludes.
Without explicitly endorsing mandatory vaccination, Magyar Nemzet’s Levente Sitkei finds absurd the claims of Western European anti-vaxxer protesters that their rights are being violated by vaccine mandates. The pro-government commentator likens violent demonstrators against mandatory vaccination in Western European countries to those who accuse the Hungarian government of dictatorial rule. Sitkei believes that while some west Europeans put their individual rights before the collective interest and organize violent riots, Hungarians value stability and order.
Featured photo illustration by Péter Komka/MTI