Anti-vaxxers target Groote Schuur hospital in protest

An anti-vaccination protest is currently taking place outside Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town – despite authorities reiterating that taking the Covid-19 jab remains voluntary. 

A group of protesters gathered outside the hospital in support of, among other issues, heart surgeon Dr Susan Vosloo, whose anti-vaccination message was last week rejected by healthcare professionals and the Netcare healthcare group. 

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Netcare hospital division managing director Jacques du Plessis said in a statement that Vosloo’s comments had “grave implications” for national and global efforts to curb the pandemic, and promptly distanced the group from her controversial views. 

But as time went on, it became clear there were quite a few citizens in support of her views, many of whom are brandishing posters reading phrases such as ‘We support Susan Vosloo’ ‘I’m not a lab rat’ and ‘We do not consent to medical tyranny’. 

A statement released by People’s Health Movement South Africa and the Health Justice Initiative spokesperson Tinashe Njanji called on the public to show solidarity with health workers and get vaccinated.

This organisation was initially wrongly reported as being in support of the march. (See editor’s note below)

“[Vaccination] decreases their burden of work. In particular, we call on everyone to ensure the elders and persons with comorbidities in our communities get vaccinated, as they are most at risk of severe disease and dying from COVID-19.

“We call on government to make public the advice it has received on mandatory vaccination from the Ministerial Advisory Council or any other advice on vaccination to increase transparency and decrease uncertainty around this issue,” they added.

One protester told an SABC journalist earlier the vaccine could not be approved by any department because it was “dangerous”, and that it was important that South Africa took a stance against the incumbent mandatory Covid-19 vaccination of children. 

She said more children died of flu than the “supposed Covid virus”, and questioned why children were required to wear masks.

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In anticipation of the protest, the University of Cape Town’s health sciences faculty released a scathing statement, saying the Groote Schuur hospital being a site for the demonstration was a “disappointing development”, and reflected “a deep disrespect for the work done” at the hospital. 

“The Faculty of Health Sciences places on record that the targeting of Groote Schuur Hospital represents a serious challenge to an institution and health facility which has become an icon of collaborative management of a complex health challenge”.

The City of Cape Town said it was aware of the protest, and implored participants to “act responsibly, to wear their masks and practice social distancing”. 

However, many of the anti-vaxxers are also against wearing masks, with many deciding to go mask-free. Police are keeping a close eye at the scene. 

Disaster Management Act regulations under the currzent adjusted lockdown level 3 indicate that gatherings are limited to 100 people. 

Residents were told to report any instances of non-compliance to Covid-19 regulations to the police directly. 

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Compiled by Nica Richards

• Editor’s note: An initial version of this article incorrectly identified the Peoples Health Movement of South Africa (PHM-SA) and the Health Justice Initiative (HJI) as the organisers of the march. We sincerely apologise for this error, as these two organisations are in fact firm supporters of vaccination and are involved in promoting the vaccine rollout. We realise now that the organisations would never have associated themselves with the march and we sincerely apologise for any embarrassment this may have caused.
• The organisations had jointly released a press statement on the 21 August condemning the planned protest and expressing solidarity with the health workers at Groote Schuur.
• Any damage to the respective organisations’ reputations is regretted and we retract completely the implication that the organisations were in any way supportive or had organised the march.