He did, however, stress that government had no intention of
compelling citizens to be vaccinated. Ramaphosa was updating the country on
government’s plans to roll out the vaccines after the first batch of
AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine arrived in Johannesburg from the Serum
Institute of India earlier today.
“We all want to be free of this disease. We all want to be
safe, and for those we love to be safe. We aim to make the vaccine available to
all adults living in South Africa, regardless of their citizenship or residence
status,” Ramaphosa said.
He also assured the country that the vaccines procured by
government had been rigorously tested to ensure their safety.
“The vaccines that we are procuring have gone through
meticulous, multi-stage testing processes, including large trials involving
thousands of people,” the president said.
“In addition to determining their effectiveness, these
trials are also designed to identify side effects and safety concerns.
Independent regulators then review the data from these trials to ensure they
are not harmful.
“The vaccines that we are procuring have been shown to be
safe in large clinical trials across multiple countries.”
Ramaphosa said the government was working on ensuring that
illegal immigrants, which have proven a huge headache for officials because
they do not have the required paperwork to access many basic services, are
properly tracked so that their vaccination history can be documented.
The president made it clear that being vaccinated was a
choice, and that anyone who chose not to be inoculated would not be
discriminated against.
“Nobody will be forced to take this vaccine. Nobody will be
forbidden from travelling, from enrolling at school, or from taking part in any
public activity if they have not been vaccinated,” Ramaphosa said.
“Nobody will be given this vaccine against their will, nor
will the vaccine be administered in secret. Any rumours to this effect are both
false and dangerous.”
IOL
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