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As a result of widespread opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine, resulting in the virus continuously evolving and spreading, mandatory vaccinations are now being considered.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s, during his address of the nation on 28 November 2021, announced that the government had formed a task force to conduct extensive consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and venues.
“We have therefore been undertaking engagements with social partners and other stakeholders on introducing measures that make vaccination a condition for access to workplaces, public events, public transport and public establishments”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa
This brilliant path forward includes discussions between government, labour, business, and the community constituency at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), where there is general consensus on the necessity for such policies.
“The task team will report to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccination chaired by the Deputy President, which will make recommendations to Cabinet on a fair and sustainable approach to vaccine mandates. We realise that the introduction of such measures is a difficult and complex issue, but if we do not address this seriously and as a matter of urgency, we will continue to be vulnerable to new variants and will continue to suffer new waves of infection,” the President said.
Moreover, Business for South Africa (B4SA) advocates restricting access to public indoor venues to the vaccinated as the government enforces the relevant mandates.
Following the emergence of the new B.1.1.529 variation and the impending fourth wave, B4SA is pushing for a swift effort to limit access to vaccinated individuals solely to public indoor spaces that are not required for emergency use (such as hospitals, grocery stores, and certain government services).
According to the alliance, these steps are being advocated for in order to save lives and avoid severe lockdown restrictions during the next holiday season. Martin Kingston, Chair of B4SA, says, “We need to rapidly move to a situation where only vaccinated individuals should be allowed to travel in buses, taxis and airplanes, or to eat and drink in indoor establishments such as restaurants and taverns. This is in line with global restrictions and based on the science regarding airborne disease. Ventilation and masks remain important, but we now need to look at enforcing a further layer of protection.”
B4SA also urges all employers to provide safe working environments for their staff and customers, which should often entail limiting access to vaccinated people and enforcing vaccine mandates when possible. This is following their responsibilities outlined in the Department of Labour’s OHS Directive, issued in July.
B4SA has persuaded its social partners that access to public indoor places (save for emergency use) and public transportation should be restricted to vaccinated people only.
In the interim, the regulations regarding opening windows and ensuring adequate ventilation need to be rigorously enforced. B4SA is also calling for lower limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings to be reintroduced.
B4SA continues to urge all South Africans to get vaccinated as soon as possible. “The global scientific community is in the process of determining the transmissibility of the new variant, and scientists’ initial view is that our current vaccines remain highly effective against death and severe illness,” says Kingston.
In a nutshell, Kingston emphasises that immunisations are still our most effective weapon against Covid-19.
“The country has sufficient vaccines available, and it is imperative that as many people as possible get vaccinated as soon as possible so as to not overburden the health system and to minimise lockdown restrictions.”
According to Ramaphosa, while SA will remain on Alert Level 1 of the lockdown, this might change. “We will closely monitor infection rates and hospitalisation over the coming days and will review the situation in another week. We will then need to determine whether the existing measures are adequate or whether changes need to be made to the current regulations,” he said.
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