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Zimbabwe Teachers' Union Leader Says Mandatory Vaccination Violates Workers' Constitutional Rights


FILE: Zimbabwe vice president and Minister of Health Constantino Chiwenga holds up his vaccination certificate after receiving the first shot of Sinopharm in the southern African country.
FILE: Zimbabwe vice president and Minister of Health Constantino Chiwenga holds up his vaccination certificate after receiving the first shot of Sinopharm in the southern African country.

James Butty

The vice president of the Zimbabwe Rural Teachers Union says while he welcomes the government’s desire to get all Zimbabweans vaccinated for COVID-19, he feels the idea of a mandate for government workers may violate their constitutional rights.

Gibson Mushangu says every Zimbabwean has a constitutional right to accept or deny taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

This week, Zimbabwe Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi reportedly said government workers who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should resign from their government jobs.

He said the government did not intend to force citizens to take the vaccine, but that each Zimbabwean had a responsibility to the nation.

Mushangu says the government could have first educated the public about the importance of vaccination.

According to the Ministry of Health, 14 Zimbabweans succumbed to COVID-19 yesterday and 135 tested positive for coronavirus. The country has recorded 125,931 cases since March last year, 117,822 recoveries and 4,517 deaths. To date, a total of 2,782,103 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

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