Uphill task to take govt to court over mandatory booster shots, says lawyer

SHAH ALAM - With another three days left to complete the third Covid-19 dose, lawyers say it is better to get boosted than to take the government to the court.

Senior Partner of Messrs Anton & Chen, Alex Anton Netto said that decision made by the ministry to impose the regulations of dismissing their vaccination status is an understandable action as it was mandated by the World Health Organisation for the people to have the most amount of protection against Covid-19.

“I can see the health ministry's view as our international border reopen on April 1, I think the government is concerned over hike in cases” he said.

He also added that the public who failed to get the booster shots due to their underlying health condition should be able to reach out to the health ministry or the relevant district health offices to discuss their circumstances instead of bringing the issue to the court.

“The people can take action against the ministry but it will lead to a difficult argument because it will garner different opinions from the public regarding the booster shot.

“Even if the public tries to take the matter to court, it would be more of a constitutional battle. I personally think that they will not succeed as it is related to public health and public safety,” he told Sinar Daily.

But lawyer Datuk M Reza Hassan said that the government has made a wrong decision to impose a deadline on Sinovac vaccine recipients to get their booster shots by March 31.

Reza said people could take the government to court but "winning is a different matter."

“What they are saying is that the Sinovac vaccine is useless so why did they buy it Why would they impose it on us now?,” he told Sinar Daily.