The slow pace of COVID-19 Vaccination Programme could stall the well-meant efforts to initiate recovery of the tourism sector through initiatives like the Government’s Tourism Equity Fund. Group Chief Executive Officer of Altron, Mtetho Nyati, who was one of the panelists on the discussion on the topic of tourism sector recovery, expressed this during the recent Black Business Council Summit.
Increasingly, businesses are worried that the snail-paced approach in the vaccination programme, which the government is carrying out, may delay the country’s economic recovery plan, Nyati pointed out. “Countries that will defeat the pandemic would be the ones to reap the pent-up tourism demands. There are 22 countries that are already open to vaccinated travelers. South Africa’s delay in the vaccine roll out could be a hindrance,” he bemoaned.
Naturally, it was widely expected that South Africa, as the continent’s most developed country and comparatively much better resourced (by African standards), would take the lead in vaccine roll out, but it is behind even by the continent’s modest standards. According to an article published by GroundUp, as the last count, that is the 6th of June about 500,000 people had been fully vaccinated by a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine through the Sisonke trial (for health workers) and a further almost 800,000 had received their first dose (out of a required two) of the Pfizer vaccine through the government’s vaccination programme.