ZIMBABWEANS travelling to South Africa are having their COVID-19 vaccination cards rejected at various points of entry by that country’s immigration officials over claims that they are fake.
It emerged that the cards failed the quick response (QR)
code scans, rendering them useless.
A COVID-19 vaccination QR code is a type of barcode that
carries the holders’ personal details including when they took the vaccine and
where.
In March 2021, the government announced the issuance of
COVID-19 certificates with a QR barcode that could be scanned for verification.
Government said the certificates would be linked to the
person’s passport and national identity document.
Electronic vaccination cards are now a prerequisite to
enter other African countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya.
“I faced difficulties crossing the border when I travelled
to Kenya. The authorities said they could not recognise my vaccination card due
to the blank QR code. My lucky break only came with the mounting pressure of
people wanting to cross, therefore, we were finally rushed through,” Tracy
Chapwanya said.
At the land borders, Zimbabweans travelling to South Africa
are reportedly paying bribes of up to R100 after their vaccination cards failed
QR scans, and were rejected as fake.
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation
executive director Samuel Wadzai said they received several reports from their
members who are cross-border traders who faced the same challenges with their
vaccination cards at the borders.
“We receive a lot of reports from our members who have been
victims. There should be clarity and certainty in terms of vaccination and
COVID-19 requirements,” Wadzai said.
Government last week announced plans to decentralise the
activation of QR codes on COVID-19 vaccination cards to allow the travelling
public’s cards to be recognised at various ports of entry.
Health and Child Care ministry secretary Jasper Chimedza
confirmed that the COVID-19 certificates had inactivated QR cards.
“Due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the
need to urgently roll out the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the latest
COVID-19 vaccination certificates were issued with pre-printed QR codes that
are blank and required to be activated by loading electronic data on them,”
Chimedza said.
“However, given that the number of people who have received
at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to date is now exceeding fice
million, we are currently reserving this functionality to individuals
travelling out of the country while plans are being made to open this up to the
greater public.
“The Health and Child Care ministry, for the convenience of
the public, has begun the process of decentralising the activation process for
travellers and will be releasing updated lists of activation points countrywide
on a regular basis.”
Statistics from the Health ministry show that 24,3%, just
over 3,5 million have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Newsday
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