Only a quarter of South Africans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (File)
Johannesburg:
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday that authorities are considering making COVID-19 injections mandatory for certain sites and activities, because of an increase in infections linked to a virus. The new variant risks becoming a fourth wave.
Only a quarter of South Africans are fully immunized against COVID-19 despite being given the full dose, partly due to logistical problems getting them to rural areas, but also due to reluctance and indifference to people’s vaccines.
The Kenyan government last week issued a directive that people must present proof of vaccination by December 21 to access services, making it one of the first countries in Africa to issue vaccine regulations.
“We have … committed to our social partners and other stakeholders to put in place measures that make immunization a condition for getting vaccinated,” Ramaphosa said in a speech to the nation. access to the workplace, public events, public transport and public facilities”.
If the country does not consider the option to mandate a vaccine, he said, the country will “continue to be vulnerable to new variants and will continue to experience new waves of infections”, he said. Vulnerable people may also receive booster shots.
However, he said authorities would not consider lockdown restrictions in Africa’s most industrialized country at the moment.
Zambia’s health minister, Sylvia Maseko, said the southern African country would require civil servants to be vaccinated before going to work, and anyone wanting to enter government buildings would have to prove they had contracted the disease. .
Travel ban
South Africa has seen almost three times as many reported cases daily over the past week, mostly of the new Omicron variant first identified by South African virologists.
“If cases continue to increase, we may enter a fourth wave of infections within the next few weeks, if not sooner,” Ramaphosa warned.
Scientists have so far detected relatively few cases of the Omicron variant, mainly in South Africa but also in Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel. But they are worried by its high mutation count, which has raised concerns that it may be resistant to vaccines and more transmissible.
However, a doctor was among the first in the country to highlight the possibility of a new variant on Sunday that its symptoms had so far appeared to be mild and treatable at home.
South African officials are furious about Britain’s ban on flights from South African countries, which several other countries have copied. Many South Africans feel they are being punished for their transparency and hard work in tracking how the virus mutates.
In his speech on Sunday, the president criticized wealthy Western countries for imposing travel bans and urged them to reverse the actions.
“This is a clear departure and completely unwarranted departure from the commitment many of these countries made at the G20 meeting in Rome last month,” Mr. Ramaphosa said.
“Travel bans are not informed by science, nor will they be effective in stopping the spread of this variant.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
