The South African Liquor Brandowners Association (SALBA) has welcomed the Government’s decision to ramp up the vaccination campaign in response to the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
This comes after the President’s Sunday night address, where he announced that South Africa will remain at alert level one of lockdown but will look to increase vaccination rates.
SALBA CEO Kurt Moore said the economic recovery of the alcohol, tourism and hospitality sectors is paramount in protecting employment and growing the economy to pre-covid-19 levels.
“We recognise that the vaccine response can and should run in parallel with the economic recovery. The alcohol industry has been and is still committed to playing its part in increasing the uptake of Covid-19 vaccinations,” said Moore.
According to the SALBA, any further responses to the growth in infections should avoid sudden restrictions because they would cause needless financial shocks to businesses and their employees.
“Despite all the knee-jerk global response to the announcement of the new variant in SA, the government of SA has some control over what happens to the domestic market. The alcohol, tourism and hospitality industries still desperately need a successful December season to recover and survive through to the off-season period,” said Moore.
Moore appealed to government to not apply further lockdown restriction due to the impact that it will have on the domestic economy.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE