Ramaphosa to appoint task team to look into mandatory jabs
Government is considering a mandatory vaccine policy as the country begins its fight against a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.
Last week health officials reported an average of 1600 daily cases, a sharp increase from the previous weeks.
The surge in infections is believed to be driven by the newly discovered Omicron variant.
Gauteng remains the hardest hit by the variant.
Despite the spike in infections and the fourth wave expected to hit in December, the country’s vaccination remains relatively low.
More than 40% of the adult population has received at least a single vaccine dose, while 35% of the population is fully vaccinated.
During a national address on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa described the progress as "insufficient".
“Vaccination is by far the most important way to protect yourself and those around you against the Omicron variant, to reduce the impact of the fourth wave and to help restore the social freedoms we all yearn for,” said Ramaphosa.
“Vaccination is also vital to the return of our economy to full operation, to the resumption of travel and to the recovery of vulnerable sectors like tourism and hospitality.”
Ramaphosa added a task team would look into the possibility of mandatory vaccinations for access to workplaces, as well as public events and public establishments.
“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.”
While there isn’t a national mandatory vaccine policy yet, some employers including Discovery, Old Mutual, Wits, UCT and Rhodes University have got the ball rolling on the controversial policy.
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