The Department of Health says although getting the vaccine against COVID-19 is still a personal option, those who choose not to take the vaccine, could be left out of important events.

These include festivals, major sporting events and even international travel.

On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that government was looking at introducing a vaccine passport system, which could be used as evidence of vaccination.

Currently, cards and SMS’s are issued as a confirmation after getting the vaccine.

The department’s Dr Lesley Bamford says the certificate is sufficient for domestic use but it might not be enough for international travel.

“We do know that for international travel, some countries are not satisfied with that level of documentation. We are involved in a process together with Dirco, talking to different countries on the issue of what they will accept on the purpose of entry into those countries,” he explains.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) expressed its dissatisfaction over the idea of vaccine passports.

The idea of vaccine passports is reckless: Cosatu