Hashtag against mandatory vaccine passes for public workers goes viral on Twitter

The “no to salaries for vaccination” hashtag is currently trending on Twitter in Morocco on February 11, protesting the government’s recent decision to require workers to obtain vaccine passes in order to enter the workplace, as the unvaccinated will now be subject to wage cuts and other sanctions for “not attending to their jobs.”

The news of this new measure, initially reported by Hespress, was confirmed this week by Minister of Justice, Abdelatif Ouahbi, who said that “those who have yet to be vaccinated will not be allowed into public institutions, and will be considered as having willingly abandoned their offices.”

The legislation governing abandonment of office in the public sector includes sanctions ranging from wage cuts to unpaid suspension to permanent termination.

Moroccans working within the country’s public sector are “outraged” at the new measure, calling it unconstitutional and illegal, as vaccination was never made to be compulsory.

Twitter users called this policy “a serious and unprecedented human rights setback in Morocco,” especially since this news comes amidst rising inflation in Morocco and abroad.

The Moroccan government is adamant to reach its ambition of a fully vaccinated population, as the rate now approximately rounds up to 70% for the two initial doses, and less than 14% have been administered the booster shot.

Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch recently requested private business owners in the country to demand their employees to get vaccinated “because, without vaccination, you will not have any cash flows.”

Akhannouch stressed that vaccination is the only way businesses and the national economy as a whole can avoid economic lulls and crises resulting from the pandemic, adding, “you help us with the vaccination, we will help you with everything else.”

After transferring power from one party to another since the emergence of the virus in Morocco, this executive seems more “forceful” with its vaccination campaign, and just like France, is pushing for more regulation under the guise of “the collective wellbeing of citizens.”

Many citizens are even expecting more firm measures to “force people to get vaccinated” under the viral hashtag, which is currently the most viral hashtag in Morocco.

But civil resistance persists, as various unions, activists, and officials have warned against such measures, which some say “will only deter citizens further from immunization.”