Democratic Alliance (DA) head of policy Gwen Ngwenya expressed on Thursday, after lengthy consultation with public health experts, her party’s strong support for Covid-19 vaccination to protect against hospitalization and death, however, she stresses that the DA is strongly opposed to mandatory vaccination.

“Evidence is emerging that vaccines are less effective at preventing transmission, as waves of infection are still occurring amongst highly vaccinated populations,” she said in a statement.  

The party says the social risk that a policy of vaccine mandates seeks to address is relieving excessive pressure on hospitals owing to Covid-19.

However, Ngwenya added that a mandatory vaccine policy ignores evidence of some degree of natural protection through prior infection.

According to University of the Witwatersrand Professor of Vaccinology Shabir Mahdi, 73% of the South African population has some degree of immunity.

The DA says even if a strategy of State-imposed vaccine mandates is justifiable, the State lacks the capacity to implement and enforce it.

It suggests that an alternative to vaccination would be a negative Covid-19 test no older than 72 hours, a recent antibody test, or a positive Covid-19 test that is older than 14 days but no older than some specified period, as natural immunity does wane.

On private institutions, the DA says the decision should be left to each establishment to decide what is best based on their own risk assessment.

The DA recommends that private institutions that wish to impose a vaccine mandate accommodate other options.

South African establishments would not be alone globally in taking this approach.  

“Individuals who choose not to vaccinate should bear in mind that they will likely continue to be severely limited in their ability to travel abroad,” added Ngwenya.