Lesotho to make COVID vaccination mandatory to access workplaces, public services

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - The government of Lesotho will introduce mandatory vaccination for all citizens in order to access workplaces and public services effective Jan. 1, 2022, Health Minister Semano Sekatle has said.

In a statement late Sunday, Sekatle said all unvaccinated individuals will not be allowed to access public services.

“All government employees, institutions and non-governmental organizations and companies should not be allowed to operate without vaccination,” he said in a statement written in the Sesotho language.

He said all vaccinated people will be given vaccination cards that they will produce whenever they access public spaces as proof of their vaccination.

Sekatle also urged all citizens returning for holidays from neighboring South Africa to get vaccinated. There is a sizable number of Basotho citizens who work in the mining industry in South Africa and usually return home for the Christmas and New Year holidays at the end of every year.

Lesotho, a country completed surrounded by South Africa, has reported 25,528 cases and 665 deaths compared to its neighbor, which has reported over 3 million infections and 90,000 fatalities.