VP And Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga Volunteers To Be Vaccinated First
The Vice President and Minister of Health Constantino Chiwenga today received his first shot of the Sinopharm vaccine. The VP becomes the first government official to receive a COVID 19 vaccine in the country. Zimbabwe kickstarted its vaccination programme this morning after receiving a donation of 200 000 shots of the Sinopharm vaccine from The People’s Republic of China.
The nation has been divided over the Chinese Vaccine with many questioning its effectiveness against Covid-19. The VP put those concerns to rest by receiving the jab first before every other citizen, a move that has been applauded by many across the political divide.
Starting today, Health Care workers and other vulnerable groups put on the priority list will be receiving the vaccine on a volunteer basis.
According to the Health Ministry’s vaccination plan, 22% of the population will be vaccinated during the first phase.
In the second and third phase, The Ministry seeks to vaccinate 36.4% of the population for a cumulative total of 60%.
The Ministry of Health also confirmed that there is “now a 61% dominance of the new South African variant 501.YV2” in the country. The South African variant is more infectious and few vaccines have proved effective against this more potent strain.
Zimbabwe also purchased an additional 800,000 vaccine doses that are due to arrive next month from China.
The first phase is also serving as a test run to determine whether the Sinopharm jab is effective against the ‘501.YV2’ variant that has spread to Zimbabwe since first being detected in South Africa.
In a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, The President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa extended the 45-day national lockdown by two more weeks.
Schools, churches, bars are still banned with funerals not allowed to exceed more than 30 mourners.
Travel bans from one province to the other have also been maintained, while government offices will operate at 25% capacity.
The president said all private companies seeking resumption of work will be bound by law to test all their employees for COVID-19
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