GOVERNMENT has barred unvaccinated officials from attending next week’s key national events, including Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations, to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus.
Cabinet has since barred unvaccinated workers from boarding
Public Service Commission (PSC) buses. It has also threatened to scrap
allowances for unvaccinated employees.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, during a post-Cabinet
Press briefing yesterday, said only 200 vaccinated people would be allowed to
attend the Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations.
This came at a time when the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission (ZHRC) has declared all measures put in place to force people to be
vaccinated “illegal”.
“The Defence Forces Day will be held on August 10 with the
rest of the nation following on virtual platforms,” Mutsvangwa said.
“The Defence Forces and Heroes Day celebrations will only
be attended by fully vaccinated persons. In addition, attendees will be
subjected to testing for COVID-19 at the event. There will be small gatherings
this year to mark the Heroes Day commemorations. The 2021 main Heroes Day
commemorations, which will be held on August 9 at the National Heroes Acre,
will be a hybrid event with a small gathering of 200 people.”
Mutsvangwa said to ensure the government achieves 60% herd
immunity by year end, a number of strategies had been put in place, with the
Health Services Board (HSB) recruiting retired nurses to help boost the
vaccination programme.
Government is targeting to inoculate about 10 million
people, representing 60% of the population, in order to attain herd immunity.
However, only about 700 000 people have received both doses
while about 1,6 million have received only one jab since the country rolled out
its vaccination programme in February.
“To accelerate the vaccination programme, the payment model
of allowances for vaccinators is being reviewed so it can be based on the
number of persons vaccinated,” Mutsvangwa said.
“The HSB has written to Treasury seeking concurrence to
recruit retired nurses to help boost the vaccination programme.
But the ZHRC earlier said: “The commission acknowledges the
initiative of testing and vaccinating frontline workers. However, a number of
media platforms have raised concern over employers disregarding freedom of
choice, integrity of the person, right to dignity and existence of underlying
conditions.
“Some public institutions and private companies are
allegedly prohibiting unvaccinated employees from accessing their premises or
workstations and others are purportedly having their salaries deducted.”
The ZHRC added: “The government has taken a commendable
policy position to allow free choice by individuals with regards to uptake of
COVID-19 vaccines. It is, therefore, important for all stakeholders to avoid
any coercive measures that directly or indirectly compel people to get
vaccinated against their choice.
“It is important to be guided by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) guiding principles which posit that vaccination programmes
must not be made compulsory, but should be a matter of choice.”
Several companies, including those owned by the government
have placed unvaccinated workers on forced leave.
Health and Child Care deputy minister John Mangwiro on
Tuesday told stakeholders during a vaccination event sponsored by Seed Co in
Harare that everyone in the country should be vaccinated as it was the only way
to deal with the deadly respiratory virus.
“People must stop spreading myths about the virus and the
side-effects of vaccines. Some of the
myths include that COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility,” he said.
Mangwiro said government was in the process of ensuring
that everyone in the country gets vaccinated, including children. Newsday
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