Citizens Forced To Pay For Vaccination Cards Activation
Vaccinated citizens wishing to travel abroad are reportedly being forced to pay as much as US$20 to activate their vaccination certificates at health centres offering the service. The Health Ministry is offering the activation services free of charge, but some citizens are paying for the service to hasten the process. Some people end up aborting their trips after failing to have their QR codes activated.
This comes as demand for the activation of the QR codes is rising following the relaxation of travel restrictions in most countries across the globe. Workers at public health institutions are reportedly fleecing citizens seeking to activate the quick response (QR) codes on their COVID-19 vaccination cards which are a prerequisite for travellers at international borders. It has also emerged that health workers are also allegedly demanding as much as US$100 to process activated vaccination cards for people who are not vaccinated.
The activation of these COVID-19 vaccination cards QR codes is centralised at major public health institutions and selected local council clinics. Citizens are spending days in long winding queues with the nurses offering services at a slow pace, in what people described as a tactic to frustrate them so that they pay for the service.
In Glen Norah, health workers demanded that the person seeking the service provides internet services or buys data. Some clinics are reportedly taking a limited number of people — about 50 people per day — resulting in dozens of people being turned away.
“They are demanding proof that indeed a person wants to travel abroad before they can activate,” a resident who only identified herself as Sarah said. “This is my third day at this clinic, I have been coming here every morning to no avail. What I noticed is some nurses come with a handful of cards that will be given preference, while we wait in queues. This makes the process very slow and they can abruptly close office, even before the close of business.”.
A nurse who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that health workers were being paid by travellers who were in urgent need of the card activation service. “KumaActivation kune mari mari refu manje,“ she said. “Some people would be in urgent need of the QR code because they would not want to miss their flights or they would be busy at work. Instead of waiting for up to five hours in queues, they opt to pay us. Inenge iri yekutenga drink chete, kana US$40 chaiyo.”
The Health Ministry Secretary Jasper Chimedza referred questions to the ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri. Mujiri was not picking up calls and had not responded to questions sent to him by the time of going to print. Health deputy minister John Mangwiro was also not answering his phone.
