“Freedom Caravans” between the interest of the individual and the interest of the group

The wave of protests that became known as “Freedom Caravans” had started in Canada when hundreds of heavy truck drivers and thousands of protesters succeeded in blocking main roads and some vital bridges in the federal capital, Ottawa and other places, but the infection quickly crossed the ocean and spread to a number of European countries. These include France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.

The starting point of the protests was the objection to the restrictive measures taken by the majority of the concerned governments as part of the policies to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the imposition of vaccinations by indirect mandatory methods through the vaccination or health passport as a condition for citizens to enter places of public gatherings and entertainment halls. Restaurants and various sports and cultural activities.

Although the proportion of those who reject vaccination remains a minority in these societies that witnessed the resurgence of the “Freedom Caravans” movement, the discussion regarding the set of restrictions related to regulating life, facilities and works under the weight of Covid-19 and its successive variants expanded in scope and varied fields and opinions about it varied among the acceptors and rejecters together. It comes very close to the logic of the famous rule that says the limits of individual freedom and personal interest when the freedom of the group and the common good begin.

On the other hand, it is true that the effectiveness of the vaccine, regardless of its size and duration, does not only benefit the individuals who agreed to receive it, but it also includes the benefit of those around him in his family, work and society as a whole. Therefore, keenness on vaccination becomes a social duty and a public responsibility. However, it is also true that ensuring the maximum amount of feasibility of vaccines is linked to ensuring its reception on the largest scales globally, because the world has become a small village in terms of contact, communication and friction, and if a people here or an entire continent there enjoys the vaccine, the survival of other parts of the world lacking a vaccination rate High will greatly reduce the effectiveness.

This is the case for many societies in developing countries, as in the example of the African continent, where the vaccination rate does not exceed 10% compared to 70% or more in developed and rich countries. If the rates of infection with the virus, as well as the numbers of deaths and the overcrowding of intensive care units in hospitals, have decreased at noticeable rates in societies that have achieved high vaccination rates, then the low rates in various other parts of the world not only confuse the policies of restrictions, vaccination and health passports, but may invalidate many of its protective functional dimensions.

We must not forget here the fact that the contents of the protest that have become linked to the movements of the “freedom convoys” are no longer confined to the Covid-19 clause, restrictions and passports, but are retracing the agendas of previous protest movements with a deeper and farther impact, such as the resumption of the “yellow vests” agenda in France, and the rise of the “yellow vest” agenda in France. Demands to raise purchasing power, and reduce the cost of various forms of energy from fuel to electricity, if one puts aside the reality of the exploitation of these protest patterns by far-right movements, racist ideologies, national intolerance, hatred of immigrants, foreigners, and others in general.

Thus, the equation of "caravans of freedom" is not free from the restrictions of the debate between the interest of the individual and the interest of the group.