United States president-elect Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and, of course, our very own President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo played this game recently. All the leaders got their respective countries’ first COVID-19 jab to inspire confidence in the rest of the population to get vaccinated. 

In the United Kingdom, that honor was given to Margaret Keenan, a 91-year-old grandma. Maybe this is because they are vaccinating the over-80s first there. And I thought respecting elders was a tradition of Eastern cultures.

In Indonesia those getting prioritized are medical workers, the military, the police, state officials, other public service workers and then the general public between the ages of 18 and 59. Only then will those over 60 get their turn.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a very clear statement that getting vaccinated was “good for you and good for the whole country". For once, most leaders in the world are in unison in voicing the same message: that it’s a patriotic act to get vaccinated. You protect yourself as well as others. What’s not to like?

Err, plenty. There have always been antivaxxers who want to call their own shots, they say. They refuse to have themselves or their children vaccinated because of multiple factors, including religion, ideology and politics.

For example, QAnon – the far right movement whose hero is Donald Trump – are antivaxxers. Some of the conspiracy theories are driven by scientists and doctors and former employees of pharmaceutical companies who have helped develop the vaccine.

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