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GOVERNMENT on Tuesday gave churches a green light to resume physical services with only congregants fully vaccinated against Covid-19 allowed to attend.

Church gatherings had been banned since June when the country reverted to the level 4 lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 following a spike in infections and deaths.

After the ban, churches resorted to virtual services.

The announcement by the Government on Tuesday was therefore, good news to churchgoers as they will finally be able to attend services and interact with fellow congregates.

But the churches must be reminded of the level of responsibility they need to practice so that houses of worship do not become Covid-19 superspreaders.

Announcing the green light for churches to conduct physical services, in her post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, said: “Cabinet wishes to inform the public that churches can now allow sit-in congregants under the following conditions: only congregants who have received two doses of the vaccine are allowed to attend, all Ministry of Health and Child Care and WHO protocols are adhered to and all those found in breach will be arrested, including the leaders of the churches.”

It is the duty, especially of church leaders, to ensure that congregants who come for sit-in services are fully vaccinated as failure to do so has a dual effect of arrest and prosecution and more catastrophically, the spread of the virus leading to more infections and deaths.

The church leaders must actually take the lead and make sure that they are fully vaccinated before they stand on their various pulpits to preach the word of the Lord.

Church leaders play a crucial role and hold great influence in society hence if they lead by example, the rest of their congregations to follow.

They must also ensure that members of their denominations are fully vaccinated by putting in place verification mechanisms that ascertain that indeed members are fully vaccinated before entry into the church.

To those church members and indeed broader society who had either gotten only one jab of the vaccine or not vaccinated at all, there is still time to do the right thing as the inoculation exercise is still on going.

Government is rolling out the exercise for free and vaccination centres have been spread out for the convenience of the public.

However, there are always unscrupulous members of society who may try to take advantage of the situation by producing fake vaccination cards for members to access church or for other reasons.

The police are on record saying such culprits will be caught and prosecuted as they pose a threat to society.

Several arrests of such culprits prove the seriousness of the police on their warnings.

While infections are going down, the battle against Covid-19 is not yet won and it is through consistently observing prevention protocols that the virus can be totally eradicated.

In her post-Cabinet briefing, Minister Mutsvangwa reiterated that more efforts are required to contain the third wave of the disease.

“Cabinet noted that the number of infections decreased slightly during the week under review, with 6 781 cases recorded, compared to the 11  652 reported the previous week. This reflected a 42 percent decrease, and indicated that the infection prevention and control measures are yielding results,” she said.

“The only exception is the Midlands province which is experiencing another surge. Concerted efforts will be made to address the situation in that province as well as in other known Covid-19 hotspots.”

The fight against Covid-19 is a collective effort and it is the responsibility of every Zimbabwean, churches included, to make sure that they reduce the spread of the virus by getting vaccinated.

As of August 10, 2021, a total of 1 912 592 (22,3 percent) people had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 1 061 238 got the second dose, translating to a national coverage of 12,3 percent.

Minister Mutsvangwa said vaccination in border towns, other hotspots and peoples’ markets is progressing as scheduled.

“Two million syringes were procured from sinopharm of China and received on 7 August, 2021. The vaccination programme will be ramped up in provinces with low uptake such as Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces, and Chitungwiza where progress has been slow,” she said.

While the assessment on the state of preparedness for the safe reopening of schools is ongoing across all provinces, it is important also for teachers and all those eligible for vaccination to get vaccinated before the announcement of the opening dates.