Xolile Bhengu
When Discovery Holdings announced that it would have a mandatory vaccination for its staff by 1 January 2022 the idea was seen as controversial.
Adrian Gore, Discovery Group CEO may have begun in September, a stance that many South African companies may soon follow as they battle a threat of a constantly evolving Covid-19 pandemic, which is challenged by an increasingly visible resistance by the public to volunteer their arms for the Covid-19 jab.
Gore announced on Tuesday that 10,000 (94%) of the Group’s staff had since come forward to get their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and they expected to end the year at 97% of staff vaccinated.
The company said the pandemic had claimed 15,000 of its clients and 22 staff members.
It said 26% of its staff members had opposed a mandatory vaccine for medical reasons, 39% had opposed it for body integrity, 17% for religious reasons, 2% had declined for cultural reasons, and 17% who declined had been grouped into the “other reason” category.
“The argument of whether Covid-19 vaccines should be mandatory has been heating up and we thought it would be useful to share our experience as companies decide whether or not to implement a mandatory Covid-19 policy,” said Gore.
DG Murray Trust chief executive Dr David Harrison said employer mandates and vaccine passports are important signals to society that the country was at a point where it expected everyone to get vaccinated.
The DG Murray Trust recently partnered with the Shoprite Group to provide R100 grocery vouchers for people aged 60 and above, as an incentive to vaccinate.
The organisation has stood by the belief that vaccine hesitancy was also linked to socio-economic realities in the country such as affordability.
Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale said they were not averse to the idea of Discovery implementing a mandatory vaccination policy.
The health department recently announced that the country now had a mutated Covid-19 variant named Omicron that threatened to begin a fourth wave in the coming months.
