BY SILENCE MUGADZAWETA Zimbabwe’s National Covid-19 vaccination programme will be rolled out in three phases targeting those at high risk first, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has said.
Vice President and Health and Child Care minister Constantino Chiwenga in a statement, said the vaccination programme would begin next week after the government acquired 600 000 doses from China on top of a 200 000 jabs donated by China’s Sinopharm.
The @MoHCCZim publishes the Covid-19 Vaccine rollout program.PHASE 1:Stage 1Target Healthcare workers.Stage 2:Those with chronic illnesses and the elederly and prison inmates and refuge camps. PHASE 2Lecturers and all school staff.PHASE 3Relatively low risk pic.twitter.com/0bhaueG9y3
— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) February 12, 2021
“The vaccination programme begins next week after the country takes delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
“The Sinopharm vaccine has proved to be safe in clinical trials and has efficacy rates ranging from 76 to 86% and has already been used by other countries in controlling Covid-19.”
He said the Government was at an advanced stage negotiating with Russia to acquire the Sputnik V vaccine.
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“Stage 1 will target frontline workers at significantly high risk of Covid-19. These include health workers, Ports of Entry Personnel Zimra, Immigration, Customs, funeral palour, security personnel, and village health workers,” the statement read.
“Stage 2 will target those with chronic illnesses, the elderly from 60 years and above, inmates and prison population and others in confined settlements including refugee camps.”
The second phase will cover schools whilst the third phase will target those at low risk until the whole country was covered.
Chiwenga encouraged the people to take up the vaccine as it was an essential component in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic.
