Harare Tells Civil Servants to Get the Jab or Resign

Government workers in Zimbabwe who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should resign, its justice minister said on Tuesday. The southern African nation has so far vaccinated 2.7 million people, against a target of inoculating two-thirds of its 15 million population by the end of the year. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government says it has paid for 12 million COVID-19 doses from China. Ziyambi Ziyambi said while Zimbabweans would not be forced to get vaccinated, those in the public service had a responsibility to protect the public by getting COVID-19 shots. He did not suggest that the authorities would punish government employees who refuse the vaccine, but said they should take it upon themselves to quit. Zimbabwe has recorded 125,671 COVID-19 cases and 4,493 deaths since the start of the outbreak last year, with more than half of these in the past two months. The Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, which represents government employees, said it would provide a comment later.

SOURCE: REUTERS