Key Considerations & Issues on COVID-19 Vaccine Rollouts Across Southeast Asia

The opening year of this decade was sadly and tumultuously marked by the many public health challenges, travel restrictions, border closures, fears and economic hardship brought on by the coronavirus pandemic across the globe. 

Glimmers of hope re-emerged towards the end of 2020 as unprecedented worldwide efforts to research, experiment, formulate and test vaccine candidates began to coalesce and started to bear fruit with various promising vaccines being rushed into production to begin the work of facing down a once in a generation devastating global pandemic.

In the early stages of 2021, vaccination campaigns began and are now underway all around the world to help protect vulnerable populations and fight the further spread of this highly contagious virus. 

With public vaccination drives now well underway in various countries across Southeast Asia, we take this opportunity to look more closely at some of the top questions and concerns on the minds of employers and employees at this special, uncertain and cautiously optimistic time. For example, can an employer require its employees to be vaccinated? Can employers terminate employees who refuse to be vaccinated?

This Q&A outlines in as much as detail as is currently available, the rights and obligations of employers and employees when it comes to vaccination in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Don’t miss out on this timely, easy-to-read and informative FAQ on COVID-19 vaccination issues from an employment and labor perspective so that you can form a clear view on what your rights are in whichever country that you live or that you now may call home!