As Zimbabwe kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Thursday last week, 4014 healthcare workers led by the health Minister and Vice President Chiwenga have already received the first shots.
The 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China are already being used in the first phase of the campaign, which is mainly targeting people over 60, frontline government workers, and vulnerable groups.
The first phase is also being viewed as a test run to determine whether the Sinopharm jab is effective against the coronavirus variant that has spread to Zimbabwe since first being detected in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Constantino Chiwenga, Zimbabwe’s health minister and vice president, was the first person to receive the jab, setting the ball rolling for the targeted 60% of Zimbabwe’s population set to be immunised.
According to the Health Ministry’s vaccination plan, Zimbabwe’s eventual aim is to inoculate 10 million of its approximately 15 million people.
“A total of 22% of the population will be vaccinated during the first phase. In the second phase, 18.4% people will be targeted, while 18.4% will be vaccinated in the third phase, thus achieving the target of vaccinating nearly 60% of the entire population,” Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists in Harare during a presser.
Zimbabwe has purchased some 800,000 more vaccine doses that are due to arrive next month.
As of Tuesday 23 February , Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 case tally stands at 35,910 cases, including at least 1,448 deaths and more than 32,288 recoveries.
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