LETTER: SA’s anti-vax issue – BusinessLIVE

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent address when he said indoor mask wearing must remain, “particularly while so many people remain unvaccinated”, as well as similar comments by health minister Joe Phaahla, have confirmed what I believed to be true: that the government intends to continue enforcing onerous restrictions such as indoor mask wearing and social distancing until the majority of SA citizens have been vaccinated.

There is an obvious issue with this: the government has failed to realise that SA has a anti-vax problem, and the vast majority of those who remain unvaccinated have done so by choice.

It is not a logistical issue. Various schemes to incentivise them with airtime and other benefits have largely failed. It is wishful thinking that these people will now suddenly change their minds, particularly as the virus appears to have become milder (and they will thus be further emboldened to wait it out), leaving us to live with these onerous regulations indefinitely.

SA will never reach upward of 80% vaccination as in the UK and other European countries, and for this to be the criterion that must be met before remaining regulations are relaxed is problematic. Continued restrictions of any kind that are premised on the majority of South Africans being vaccinated must be reconsidered as the government must accept that this unrealistic scenario is unlikely to materialise.

Mark Khoury
Umhlanga Rocks

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