VACCINATION CERTIFICATES FOR EMASWATI

MBABANE - Eswatini will issue COVID-19 vaccination certificates for every liSwati who has taken the jab.

This is according to the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, who revealed this on Sunday during an interview, where this journalist was enquiring if government would provide COVID-19 vaccination certificates. The enquiry came after ongoing debates regarding the issuance of certificates. For instance, Greece rolled out its first digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for all vaccinated citizens on February 23, 2021.  According to international reports, the purpose of the certificates was to encourage citizens to vaccinate and to provide safety by restricting movements of persons who have not vaccinated.

Debate

This sparked a debate among social media users, who said the vaccination certificates, which are also referred to as COVID-19 passports, would discriminate citizens who would decide against vaccinating.  “People who have not vaccinated will find themselves not moving freely to other countries,” they said. Nkosi said all countries would issue COVID-19 vaccination certificates. “Some countries are already issuing vaccination certificates. We will do one similar to what is done for yellow fever. This is new, so there is going to be a lot of development worldwide,” said the minister. According to National Health Service website, international law requires travellers crossing the borders of countries where yellow fever is endemic to have yellow fever vaccinations and vaccination certificates. The certificate only becomes valid 10 days after vaccination and stays valid for the duration of the life of the person vaccinated. If a person from a region with yellow fever attempts to enter a country without the yellow fever certificate, they will either be denied entry or quarantined until their certificate becomes valid, or for a period of not more than six days. Those with an exemption certificate due to medical reasons may be allowed entry to regions without yellow fever.

optional

Worth noting is that vaccinating will be optional in the country, meaning people who had not vaccinated will not have COVID-19 vaccination certificates. This means that their movement outside the country might be limited. World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Promotion Officer Dr Kevin Makadzange said their International Health Regulations (IHR) did not recommend the issuance of COVID-19 certificates. “Currently, COVID-19 vaccines are not readily available like other vaccines, so it would be unfair to issue certificates now. We have not recommended yet because people who have not vaccinated will be excluded from travel and trade,” said Makadzange.

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