Malema won't say whether he has been vaccinated, but urges the youth to get the jab

EFF leader Julius Malema won't disclose whether he and the party's senior leadership have been vaccinated against Covid-19, saying it is a personal choice.

However, he urged the youth to get the jab and help contain the spread of the virus. 

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Malema said the party leadership did not want to be labelled as “influencers of the Western vaccine.”

“It's a personal matter. We can't be asking each other those types of questions. All we are saying is that we need vaccines from China, Russia and Cuba. All vaccine that is proven to be effective must come to SA. Don't ask us whether we took the vaccine or not because the next question will be 'which one?'" said Malema.

He encouraged the youth to get vaccinated. 

“We want people to take the vaccine. The youth must take the vaccine. It is upon individuals to decide if they want to disclose whether they have been vaccinated or not. It's not for the EFF to announce,” he added. 

He called on the government to diversify the vaccines currently available in SA by including those manufactured in other countries such as China and Russia. He said this will give the vaccination rollout much-needed momentum.

“You're going to see numbers increasing when you bring Sputnik, CoronaVac, Sinovac and the Cuban vaccines because our people must have a choice. Some are doubting these prominent vaccines. Let people have options,” he said.

In June, the EFF marched to the offices of the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), the body tasked with regulating health products in SA, calling for use of Russia's Sputnik V and China's Sinovac vaccines. The Sinovac vaccine CoronaVac was later approved for use in SA, with conditions.

The party drew public scrutiny for flouting the Covid-19 regulations implemented at the time, which stated that only 100 people were allowed to gather outdoors.

Malema said lockdowns were becoming unsustainable for SA and called for the reopening of the economy.