ABSTRACT
Amidst the turmoil caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, religion demonstrated remarkable tenacity the world over, including in Zimbabwe. This chapter seeks to give the readers a sense of perspective by providing the various responses captured by the contributors on the interface of religion and COVID-19 vaccination in Zimbabwe. This is critical because both religion and vaccines are essential in promoting human prosperity as they are systems of survival, with religion thriving on non-human support from the divine realm whilst the vaccines are a scientific remedy. The volume embraces a contextualised approach as it concentrates on the Zimbabwean setting, but also draws out wider implications from this. We are convinced that the Zimbabwean case study provides valuable insights into religion’s interface with COVID-19, particularly in relation to diverse responses to vaccines. Through a review of primary and secondary sources, the contributors capture the major responses towards COVID-19 vaccination in Zimbabwe, which are far from being homogenous. The responses towards COVID-19 vaccination fall under three clusters, namely, vaccine acceptance (by the ‘pro-vaxxers’), vaccine hesitancy (by the ‘anti-vaxxers’), and those that towed the middle way. Therefore, the chapters in the volume demonstrate that religion remains an indispensable cog-wheel in imagining Zimbabwe’s future responses to health emergencies.
