In an effort to slow or stop the spread of the Delta variant through an already restricted building industry, the Victorian government says all construction workers will need at least one dose of vaccine by Friday if they want to work on Monday.

This is not the first time an Australian government has pushed for a particular sector to be inoculated. Health workers, aged-care centre residents and others have all been targets of vaccination drives.

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But a government saying you will be vaccinated - "or else" - appears to take the debate to a new level, increasing the pressure on those who for whatever reason are either delaying or refusing their shots.

For most people, getting the jab - even with the rare but highly publicised blood-clot risks of AstraZeneca - is a no-brainer.

But if vaccination hesitancy - or outright refusal - stops us reaching the required percentage thresholds to reopen the country, then we will face, as a nation, some uncomfortable decisions.

As we report today, Hunter hospitality operators are looking forward to "Freedom Day", whenever it comes.

However they also worry about the practicalities of dealing with unvaccinated customers, and have similar concerns about staff.

The federal Fair Work Ombudsman describes Australia's vaccination plan as "voluntary", and says that if employers want to consider making vaccinations "mandatory in their workplace", they should get their own legal advice.

The Victorian vaccination demand may bring previously theoretical concerns to head.

The legality of such policies will need to be clarified, initially through Parliament and inevitably through the courts.

Critics have described our future as a "vaccination apartheid".

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That might be an exaggeration, but we are already accepting levels of monitoring - using our mobile phones - that would not have been accepted pre-pandemic.

Until now, our Australian passports were only needed overseas.

If we want our freedom back, we may soon require a domestic "vaccination passport" to move around our "free" country.

The pandemic continues to impact on us, and in ways we are only starting to realise.

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