BCC bars unvaccinated workers

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has said council employees who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will not be allowed into the local authority's premises by the end of this month as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Government and some companies have barred employees who have not been vaccinated from reporting for duty.

According to the latest full council report of the General Purposes Committee, the city said it is aiming to have 100 percent vaccination rate amongst its employees.

The report was presented by BCC town clerk Mr Christopher Dube.

He said council had issued a circular requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by January 31.

After that, he added no employee shall be permitted to report for duty without proof of vaccination and those still considering to get vaccinated after the January deadline must take unpaid leave in terms of Council`s conditions of service.

"It shall be noted that the Government also had a standing directive that required that all civil servants be vaccinated against Covid-19 and that the unvaccinated were not permitted at the Government workplaces until they get inoculated. Other business organisations were also implementing the same protocol with some private companies even extending it to their stakeholders," said Mr Dube.

He said the council was aware of the discussion on the legal implications of such measures which have been going on in the country but said council as the employer has a duty to ensure safe working conditions in the work place.

Mr Dube said the number of vaccinated council employees was very low which was a concern.

"In view of the above council continued to remind the employees who had not yet taken up vaccination to do so as a matter of urgency as vaccination had been proven to lessen the severity of Covid-19.

"The nation was working towards the attainment of herd immunity with the national target being to get at least 60 percent of the population vaccinated against Covid-19," he said.

"It was therefore recommended that in terms of the Council`s Safety, Health and Environment policy which stated that Council recognised that it had a legal responsibility to safeguard its employees and the public and attached great importance to their health and safety, and would ensure that work places were safe and healthy the following measures be incorporated in the Covid-19 prevention and containment measures for Council workplaces in order to protect all council employees and its stakeholders."

During the committee discussions, the deputy mayor councilor Mlandu Ncube said it was necessary to move with speed in dealing with unvaccinated people.