By Ebi Kesiena
Hundreds of people queued in their cars to get vaccinated against Covid-19 at a drive-thru vaccination center in Cape Town, South Africa.
This comes after dozens of nations from Europe to Asia have imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and its neighbors since its scientists flagged Omicron last week.
Hillary Bertrand, Clinical Manager, Athlone vaccination site stated that there was an increase in persons who visited the vaccination site due to anxiety.
“So I definitely think today we have been a lot busier than last week. We’ve seen an uptake in people coming which is very encouraging. Friday we also saw a little bit of an increase, I think that was due to the anxiety of the new variant. But I think the public has listened to the president and hopefully this is a good sign of things to come,” he said.
The travel restrictions have dealt a body blow to South Africa’s tourism industry, which had been looking to the southern hemisphere summer to welcome an influx of visitors from the well-heeled north.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela stated that South Africa was regrettable sad that fellow African nations had joined a rush by wealthy countries to impose travel bans over the new Covid variant.
He said South Africa had recently made substantial donations of vaccines to some of the countries that were now imposing flight bans.
“When a fellow African country does that, especially in the context where most of these countries are beneficiaries… it doesn’t make sense,” he told an online news conference organised by the Health Ministry.
Monyela said his ministry was urging countries on the continent and further afield that have hurried to impose travel restrictions to reverse them immediately.
Dozens of nations from Europe to Asia have imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and its neighbours since its scientists flagged Omicron last Thursday.
Mauritius and Rwanda were the latest African countries to suspend flights.
All passengers who landed from those countries in the past seven days now have to spend a week in quarantine in designated hotels at their own cost.
