Slow vaccine rollout threatens economic recovery of domestic worker sector

The slow vaccine roll-out in Africa threatens the prospect of an economic bounce-back, which is bad news for domestic workers, who are among the worst affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic. This is the opinion of SweepSouth chief operating officer Luke Kannemeyer, who shares his thoughts on the findings of SweepSouth’s annual report, titled ‘Pay and Working Conditions for Domestic Workers across Africa’.

“This is particularly relevant considering their reliance on the income of their employer, and their frequent exploitation. This is also likely to put a roadblock on recent progress made to improve work conditions, pay and protection for domestic workers,” said Kannemeyer.

“According to a recent report by SweepSouth of more than 7 000 domestic workers across South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, vaccine hesitancy came up as a concern across all the countries surveyed, with South Africa showing the greatest hesitancy.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 pandemic has disastrous effect on domestic workers – report

“Despite many of the domestic workers we polled saying they had experienced the loss of someone they know to Covid-19 and having comprehensive knowledge of Covid-19, nearly one in five domestic workers in South Africa answered “no” when asked if they would want the vaccine.

“In order to reach herd immunity, it is estimated that at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated. This won’t be possible if vaccine hesitancy rates are as high as reported, particularly in South Africa.

“The best answer on how to end this pandemic and restore livelihoods is in the rapid and widespread vaccination of each country’s population. We are already challenged through the disproportionate allocation of vaccines to developing economies and the logistics associated with their provision and therefore cannot add an unwilling population to that mix.

MUST-READ: Compensation Fund guide for domestic worker employers

“The ability to overcome the pandemic is largely predicated on the success of vaccination rollout efforts, so extensive effort should be made to combat misinformation and provide better vaccination education.

“We firmly believe that in order to successfully achieve herd immunity for Covid-19, governments need to work with faith-based communities, educational institutions and civil society to educate the populace as to the nature of the vaccine, its safety and its efficacy. This should be paired with education dispelling the myths around vaccination and impose strong penalties on those spreading false information.”

*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).