ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on what the interface between religion and COVID-19 vaccination can bring to the discourse on religion and development. It contends that there are valuable insights for religion and development that can be derived from how diverse religious actors responded to COVID-19 vaccination in Zimbabwe (this pattern was replicated elsewhere). In particular, the chapter argues that the complexity demonstrated by religious actors in relation to COVID-19 vaccination is the same that characterises their engagement with development more generally. In the wake of the shifting responses to COVID-19 vaccination in Zimbabwe, the chapter argues that religious actors do not generate and retain a permanent position on an emerging (or existing) issue. The chapters in this volume confirm that religious actors are constantly reassessing and adjusting their positions in the light of contemporary experiences and the policies that influence the context in which they operate. This calls for more nuancing of declarations about the relationship between religion and development.
Key Words: COVID-19, development, Global South, religion, vaccinations
