Letshego Holdings Namibia has become the first company in the country to introduce a mandatory vaccine policy, as Namibia battles a fourth wave of COVID-19 and the new Omicron variant.
According to a company internal memo which has been confirmed by the listed financial services company, all staff members of Letshego are required to be fully vaccinated by the 31st of January, 2022.
“Employees who are not vaccinated, will not be allowed to enter the premises in the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy working environment, and should as a result strictly work from home with limited support. Employees are required to be fully vaccinated should they wish to come into the office,” Letshego said.
The company, however, said no staff member will be dismissed for not being fully vaccinated.
Defending the company’s stance, Letshego CEO Ester Kali said the decision was inline with the guidance of international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Letshego subscribes to the guidance of internationally recognised health institutions, such as the World Health Organisation (“WHO”). WHO guidelines reiterate the value that vaccines provide in generally preventing the most severe symptoms when infected by COVID-19, thereby reducing the number of hospitalisations in our local communities and relieving an unnecessary burden on our national healthcare systems and workers,” she said.
“This provides members of the public with additional assurance that we are, collectively, doing what we can to protect the wellbeing of both vaccinated and non-vaccinated visitors to our premises – be they customers, suppliers, contractors and all other members of our local communities.”
Kali said, “those employees who are unable to be vaccinated for any reason are engaged on a one-on-one basis in order for us to provide due guidance and support.”
In neighbouring South Africa, financial services group Discovery was one of the first companies to announce a vaccine mandate for its staff in September last year, since then, staff vaccination rates have climbed from 22% at the beginning of September to 94% by 30 November, according to an update.
Other companies, including Sanlam, Dischem, private education group Curro, Standard Bank and Old Mutual, have also announced similar moves.
Old Mutual’s policy will come into effect from January and staff will be required to submit proof of their vaccination status, while Standard Bank’s policy will come into effect on 4 April 2022.
It is not clear if vaccine mandate policies for these companies also apply to their Namibian operations.
