The government reconsidered its position on the attendance of church services saying that both the vaccinated and unvaccinated can attend church services.
It had announced in August that only fully vaccinated congregants could participate during in-person services.
Representatives of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, and the Union for Development of Apostolic and Zionist Churches in Zimbabwe Africa then engaged the government on the matter.
They argued that the directive was difficult to implement because, theologically and practically, the church is an open and welcoming space for everyone.
The government heard decided that, as of September 12, both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated congregants could worship together.
Some celebrated the decision, while others expressed concern about the change.
Peter Musuka, a general practitioner, a member of Chisipiti United Methodist Church, and a survivor of the virus, expressed concern about the decision to allow vaccinated and unvaccinated congregations to worship together. He said:
I do not know how wise it is. Vaccines cause the body to develop immunity-based resistance to further infections and no serious development of the disease that may lead to subsequent hospitalisation.
Zimbabwe needs to vaccinate 10 million people to reach the targeted herd immunity (66% of the adult population).
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