The Minister of Health Eswatini , Lizzie Nkosi, revealed this on Sunday during an interview, when a journalist was enquiring if government would provide COVID-19 vaccination certificates.
The enquiry came as a result of the ongoing debates regarding the issuance of certificates. For instance, Greece rolled out its first digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for all vaccinated citizens on February 23, 2021.
According to international reports, the purpose of the certificates was to encourage citizens to vaccinate and to provide safety by restricting movements of persons who have not vaccinated.
The issuance of the covid_19 vaccination Certificate has sparked a critical debate among social media users, who said the vaccination certificates, which are also referred to as COVID-19 passports, would discriminate citizens who would decide against vaccinating.
“People who have not vaccinated will find themselves not moving freely to other countries,” they said.
Lizzie Nkosi said all countries in the world would issue COVID-19 vaccination certificates.
She further cited that “Some countries are already issuing vaccination certificates. This is new, so there is going to be a lot of development worldwide,” said the minister.
CASE STUDY OF YELLOW FEVER
According to National Health Service website, international law requires travellers crossing the borders of countries where yellow fever is endemic to have yellow fever vaccinations and vaccination certificates.
The yellow fever certificate only becomes valid 10 days after vaccination and stays valid for the duration of the life of the person vaccinated.
If a person from a particular region with yellow fever attempts to enter a country without the yellow fever certificate, they will either be denied entry or quarantined until their certificate becomes valid, or for a period of not more than six days.
While those with an exemption certificate due to medical reasons may be allowed entry to regions without yellow fever.