The government has barred unvaccinated officials from attending next week’s key national events, including Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations, to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said only 200 vaccinated people would be allowed to attend the Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations. She said:

The Defence Forces Day will be held on August 10 with the rest of the nation following on virtual platforms.

The Defence Forces and Heroes Day celebrations will only be attended by fully vaccinated persons.

In addition, attendees will be subjected to testing for COVID-19 at the event. There will be small gatherings this year to mark the Heroes Day commemorations.

The 2021 main Heroes Day commemorations, which will be held on August 9 at the National Heroes Acre, will be a hybrid event with a small gathering of 200 people.

This comes after Cabinet has barred unvaccinated workers from boarding Public Service Commission (PSC) buses. It has also threatened to scrap allowances for unvaccinated employees.

Earlier on Tuesday Health and Child Care deputy minister John Mangwiro told stakeholders during a vaccination event sponsored by Seed Co in Harare that everyone in the country should be vaccinated as it was the only way to deal with the deadly respiratory virus.

Mangwiro said the government was in the process of ensuring that everyone in the country gets vaccinated, including children.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has declared all measures put in place to force people to be vaccinated “illegal”.

Credit: Newsday