In Victoria Falls, Vaccine Scepticism May Stall Tourism Sector

Mass vaccination for all eligible citizens in Victoria Falls. Image by Africanews

BY BOKANI MUDIMBA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | APR 1, 2021

Victoria Falls, a city affected at great lengths by COVID-19, has enough vaccine doses to cover its adult population. However, there are fewer takers.

VICTORIA FALLS (The Citizen Bulletin) — While the Zimbabwean government rolled a mass vaccination of all eligible citizens in Victoria Falls, marking the start of the second phase of vaccination in the country, conspiracies have grown about the Sinopharm vaccine.

Crispen Khumalo (66), a senior citizen and businessman in the city where he runs a tour operating company, questions the vaccine’s efficacy levels and government intention when other countries seem to delay the roll-out.

“Why must we celebrate when other countries are making noise about these vaccines? This is a fuse they want to put in people to kill us slowly.”
Crispen Khumalo, Vic-Falls businessman

“Kenya is also a tourism country, but they are not taking the vaccines; there is a danger of eliminating us here,” Khumalo says.

The government received a combined 4,5 million doses of Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines through procurement and donation from China, while others will come from Russia and India.

The country has been using Sinopharm, whose efficacy is more than 70 per cent and is ranked number one globally.

One of Victoria Falls councillors, Edmore Zhou, told a meeting organised to mobilise residents for the vaccination that he was sceptical about the vaccine.

“One wonders why they left Harare to come and vaccinate people in Victoria Falls. They should have launched there in Harare if there is nothing sinister about it,” Zhou said.

The government selected to roll out the mass vaccination in Victoria Falls, citing that it’s the country's flagship city.

President Mnangagwa has received his first shot of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. Image by President of Zimbabwe

President Mnangagwa got his jab in Victoria Falls, where he is honoured as the ‘first citizen’ after being given Freedom of the City in December last year.

The anticipation was for all residents of the resort city to embrace the vaccination exercise because they are the hardest hit by the pandemic, which left more than three-quarters of the population jobless following the hospitality industry’s closure due to low business. Over 90 per cent of Victoria Falls population directly or indirectly works in tourism.

The government set aside enough doses to cover the adult population in Victoria Falls, targeting about 30 000 people judging by the population, which was 33 000 in the 2012 census and believed to be just above 40 000 now.

Minors below 18, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are not being vaccinated for fear of affecting babies and because the drug has not been tried on children.

People with chronic diseases have to be checked by a medical doctor to assess if a condition is under control.

Church and political leaders were invited to be a part of the launch where President Mnangagwa received his first dose of Sinopharm vaccine to appeal to community influencers to be able to convince their constituencies to vaccinate.

Social media has played a part in the spread of conspiracy theories on the vaccine. Some believe once vaccinated, one is inserted with a chip linked to the religious 666 beasts. Simultaneously, many say the vaccine is yet to be approved in China, and Zimbabwe is only carrying out trials on people.

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Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association chairman Kelvin Moyo says residents have been exposed to misinformation.

“There is a need for massive information supply to dispel the notion that is in people because so far many have made the decision not to vaccinate following the spread of falsehoods of social media. Let’s craft messages educating people in local languages to dispel the conspiracy theories,” Moyo says.

City Mayor councillor Somvelo Dlamini concurs that there is rampant misinformation about the vaccine but urges residents to consider taking the jab as the only hope for tourism revival.

“There are conspiracies, but the health officials have assured us that it is safe.”
Somvelo Dlamini, the City Mayor councillor who was vaccinated soon after President Mnangagwa

Some residents said they only had to vaccinate after being told that the card given after the jab will be used as a passport for travelling and getting employment.

Some Vic-Falls residents got the jab only to get the card which carried with it conspiracy theories. Image by AP

Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro encouraged residents to challenge conspiracy theorists.

“Vaccination could become the future digital passport as the country that you are visiting may want the COVID-19 green card as a passport. The issue is still unfolding, and employers may also want people who are vaccinated.”

When mass vaccination targeting ordinary citizens started, only about 800 frontline workers had been vaccinated in Hwange district in a month from a target of 4 000. Many were sceptical about the dose due to misinformation.

The first day of mass vaccination also saw only 600 being jabbed, and numbers have been growing steadily afterwards.

During the launch in Victoria Falls, President Mnangagwa challenged citizens to accept the dose and shun vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and negative conspiracy theories.

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