Zimbabwe’s government has banned civil servants who are unvaccinated from reporting to work, with immediate effect.
Minister of Information Monica Mutsvangwa said in a post-cabinet briefing in the capital, Harare that only members of staff who have received the Covid vaccine will be allowed to continue reporting for duty.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said the government will not force anyone to have the vaccine, but those who decide not to will be forced to leave their positions: "If you choose to work for government there are rules that pertain to government employees. If you want to be part of that group of civil servants, you must abide by the rules that pertain to that group. For the protection of fellow workers and generality of the people, we are saying if you employed by the state you must get vaccinated," said Ziyambi.
Zimbabwe is gradually reopening economic and social activity following a third wave of the coronavirus crisis. Only people who have been fully vaccinated are permitted to visit churches and sit inside at restaurants, Bloomberg reports.
Up to now, the country has received 11.8 million vaccine doses in donations and purchases since the government started the rollout. As of 13 September, 1.9 million people have been fully vaccinated in Zimbabwe out of the target of 10 million set by the health ministry to achieve herd immunity. It is not known how many of the estimated 300,000 civil servants in the country have been vaccinated.
In August, the largest workers’ unions took the government and several businesses to court for demanding staff must be vaccinated before being allowed to report for work. According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, there is no law in the country regarding mandatory vaccination.
"In this case, that will undermine human dignity quite seriously. For government to do that, they will be infringing section 51 of our constitution," said Constitutional Law Lecturer, Professor Lovemore Madhuku.
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