JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

The compulsion of COVID-19 vaccination for citizens is an issue of conflict (and in some instances riots) in several countries. If governments are taking hard stance against their own citizens on vaccination, what would be expected against migrants? Reasoning from a perspective different from prevailing questions of individual or human rights on the compulsion policy, this paper seeks to offer a cosmopolitan critique of obligatory vaccination for migrants. Undoubtedly, the spread and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the institution of heavy movement restrictions for unvaccinated citizens in several countries. The staggering rate of mortality from COVID-19 globally motivated scientists across the world to race to the production of vaccines in record time. With the approval of these vaccines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) different countries adopt different approaches to ensure their citizens are immunized thereby stemming the spread of the virus. Sadly, conspiracy theories (spread especially through social media) and rights campaigns have led to vaccine hesitancy. Migrants mostly do not enjoy such rights and are more likely to oblige or be denied entry or other privileges. How cosmopolitan is this? At the core of cosmopolitan thought is the awareness of global citizenry which ought to supersede nationalistic identification. Thus, through the theoretical and practical perspectives of cosmopolitanism, this paper examines migration, mobility and the policy of obligatory vaccination.