President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned members of the public that if vaccine uptake remains low, the Government will be left with no option but to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory.
Mnangagwa made the remarks on Saturday in Uzumba where he attended the memorial of the late former prisons boss Paradzai Zimondi.
Posting on Twitter this Saturday, presidential spokesperson George Charamba said the Government is targetting universal vaccination, not the initial target of attaining herd immunity. Wrote Charamba:
The President urged all Zimbabweans to step forward for anti-COVID-19 jabs which the Government is administering free of charge.
He warned that if Government realised that not many people were coming forward for voluntary vaccination, Govt might have to consider mandatory vaccination in order to save lives.
Zimbabwe’s goal was universal vaccination and not the initial herd immunity targeting jabs for 60% of the population.
Zimondi, whose Chimurenga name was Tonderai Nyika, alongside cabinet ministers Perrance Shiri and Joel Biggie Matiza succumbed to COVID-19 and the three were buried on the same day at the National Heroes Acre.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently warned against mandatory vaccinations unless all other options have been exhausted.
