HARARE, Zimbabwe \u2014\u00a0Spencer Mutsvairo, 44, a cleaner at a small grocery shop in Harare, Zimbabwe\u2019s capital, got vaccinated against Covid-19 in July after his employer threatened to bar unvaccinated people from entering the workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most difficult decisions that I had to take,\u201d Mutsvairo told Zenger. \u201cI had to choose between getting injected of something I\u2019m not comfortable with and losing my source of livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, Zimbabwe was at the peak of its third wave of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
The country has recorded 131,205 cases of disease with 4,627 deaths, as of Oct. 4, according to the\u00a0Ministry of Health and Child Care.<\/a><\/p>\n Mutsvairo says he is skeptical of the jabs, having read media reports about certain vaccines causing blood clotting in some people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so disturbing to hear that some people react badly to vaccines, so people should do so voluntarily. I got vaccinated because I feared losing my job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Many Zimbabweans are skeptical of getting vaccinated despite being among the first African countries to roll out an inoculation program in February.<\/p>\n To date, the government has procured just above\u00a012 million doses of vaccines<\/a>. By contrast, only\u00a03.1 million people<\/a>\u00a0have been fully vaccinated against a target of 10 million to achieve herd immunity by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s largest labor body with 35 unions under its umbrella, the\u00a0Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions<\/a>, recently filed an urgent court application against the government and six companies over mandatory vaccination of employees.<\/p>\n The union cited the labor minister, attorney-general,\u00a0ZIMNAT Insurance Company<\/a>,\u00a0Zimbabwe National Road Administration<\/a>,\u00a0Telone<\/a>,\u00a0Windmill,<\/a>\u00a0SeedCo Zimbabwe<\/a>, and\u00a0Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences<\/a>\u00a0as respondents.<\/p>\n However, the next hearing date is yet to be set \u2014 High Court Justice Emilia Muchawa ruled on Sept. 13 that the matter was not urgent and \u201ccannot jump the queue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMandatory vaccination for workers is unlawful,\u201d Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president, Peter Mutasa, told Zenger.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no law that prescribes that, except for a few sectors such as health, which the government has issued statutory instruments calling for mandatory vaccination. As for the rest of the people, it is being done unlawfully. It\u2019s also unfair and illogical.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Information Minister\u00a0Monica Mutsvangwa<\/a>, speaking at a post-cabinet press briefing on Sept. 14, said that the government would stand firm on its stance for non-vaccinated employees to not be allowed to return to work.<\/p>\n \u201cPursuant to the previous announcement that all civil servants should be vaccinated, Cabinet further resolved that no unvaccinated civil servants will be allowed to come to work,\u201d Mutsvangwa said.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe is not the only country pushing for mandatory vaccination.<\/p>\n U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr.\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Sept. 9 that American companies with more than 100 workers would ensure they all are vaccinated or take weekly tests. In China, meanwhile, local authorities have made it mandatory for all 18 year-olds and above to get vaccinated or be turned away at schools, hospitals, and public transport.<\/p>\n Musa Kika, executive director at the\u00a0Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum<\/a>\u00a0said mandatory vaccination\u00a0was allowed in Zimbabwe under\u00a0the Constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth employers and employees have rights,\u201d Kika told Zenger. \u201cEmployers have the right to protect their workspaces and a duty to protect their employees, and employees have the right to protect their interests and the right to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a classic case of balancing between personal interests and limitation of rights, as envisaged under section 86 of the Constitution. A public health emergency is just a case of limitation of rights, provided it is done legally and constitutionally.\u201d<\/p>\n