Zimbabwe bans officials from operating without COVID vaccination
Zimbabwe has banned government officials from going to work if they are not vaccinated against Covid-19, a measure that was hotly contested this Wednesday by several unions, which called it “dictatorial” and “evil”.
Zimbabwe’s Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, reported that the government agreed on Tuesday that only workers who have received the covid-19 vaccine can go to their posts.
“According to the previous announcement that all civil servants must be vaccinated, the Cabinet has further decided not to allow unvaccinated civil servants to go to work,” Mutsvangwa told reporters.
But the Secretary-General of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Public Sector Trade Unions, David Dzatsunga, today described the government’s decision as a “dictator”.
This kind of decision about vaccination should be the product of a consultation. This is something we have to talk about with the government, to be clear about how they intend to implement this dictatorial declaration that they have made.”
Everything indicates that the decision will particularly affect teachers, who make up more than 200,000 public sector workers in this South African nation.
“This imposed approach has a sinister motive,” said Takavavira Zhou, head of the Progressive Teachers’ Union, one of which represents 143,000 teachers in the country.
“They are trying to confront the workers,” Chu assured Efe, stressing that the government is deliberately trying to prevent officials from attending work, in order to save their pay bill.
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