The Zimbabwean Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, on Tuesday, said government workers who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should resign from their posts, reported Reuters.
Ziyambi said he believes that public sector employees have a responsibility to safeguard the public by acquiring Covid-19 vaccinations.
“We are not forcing you to be vaccinated but if you are a government employee, for the protection of others and the people that you are serving, get vaccinated,” the Zimbabwean minister told private radio station ZiFM Stereo. “If you want to enjoy your rights, which are in the constitution, you can resign.”
He did not recommend that government employees who refuse to take vaccines face retaliation from their respective authorities, but rather that they should quit on their own. Notably, over 200,000 people work for the Zimbabwean government, with teachers accounting for the largest number.
Zimbabwe has recorded over 125,600 coronavirus cases and 4,493 deaths since the start of the outbreak last year. More than half of the cases have been reported in the past two months.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown from Level 4 to Level 2. The relaxation has unbanned intercity travel, and will now allow businesses to operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.
The curfew timing has been reduced between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. About 100 people are now allowed to assemble in public gatherings subject to the observance of the World Health Organization protocols relating to social distancing, sanitizing, and masking.
Mnangagwa urged citizens to get vaccinated to prevent more infections and deaths. He said the new measures would be reviewed after two weeks.
The Zimbabwe government has vaccinated more than 2.7 million people so far, against a target of inoculating two-thirds of its 15 million populations by the end of the year.
