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The Covid 19 second wave has brought in the South African variant with 61 percent of Zimbabwe cases now being this variant, which spreads faster and has a higher death rate than the original variant which has largely receded. Lockdown regulations are to be tightly enforced to minimise the higher risk. As the highest risk groups are vaccinated, the programme moves to stage two of phase one, targeting those with serious medical conditions and the over 60s, China’s batch of Sinopharm doses will be augmented by a far larger shipment also from China next March 2021. The immunisation programme is targeting 10 million people in three phases which represents 60% of the population, to complete the phase. Funds to roll-out the project will be sourced through Government budgets, public-private partnerships and donations.
=LPEDEZH /DXQFKHV Free Covid 19 Vaccination Program By Peter Banda
imbabwe Launches free Covid 19 Vaccination Program: =LPEDEZH KDV ÀQDOO\ MRLQHG WKH UHVW RI WKH ZRUOG LQ UROOLQJ RXW the Covid 19 Vaccination program, the inoculation kicked off on 18 February 2021 with the Vice-President and Minister of Health Dr. &RQVWDQWLQH &KLZHQJD VHHQ EHORZ YROXQWHHULQJ WR EHFRPH WKH ÀUVW SHUVRQ to be vaccinated against Covid-19 at a ceremony in Harare. Vice President (VP) and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga signalled the commencement of the country’s vaccination programme, by taking the jab in public. Zimbabwe kickstarted the vaccination programme after receiving a donation of 200 000 shots of the Sinopharm vaccine from The People’s Republic of China. Against a background of safety persimism from some quotas which have pessisted even after World Health Organization (WHO) assurances, VP &KLZHQJD KDV WKXV YROXQWHHUHG WR EHFRPH WKH ÀUVW UHFLSLHQW RI WKH YDFFLQH WR DVVXUH KHDOWK FDUH ZRUNHUV ZKR DUH VHW WR EHQHÀW IURP WKH ÀUVW SKDVH RI the vaccination programme. =LPEDEZH 0LQLVWU\ RI +HDOWK DQG &KLOG &DUH 3XEOLF 5HODWLRQV 2IÀFHU 0U 'RQDOG 0XMLUL FRQÀUPHG WKDW WKH 93 ZDV WKH ÀUVW UHFLSLHQW RI WKH YDFFLQH 7KH 9DFFLQDWLRQ SURJUDP LV FRVW IUHH WR EHQHÀFLDULHV DQG LV VHW WR WDUJHW 49 000 health workers and thousands of other high-risk frontline staff EHLQJ VFKHGXOHG IRU VWDJH RQH RI SKDVH RQH XVLQJ WKH ÀUVW EDWFK RI WKH Sinopharm vaccines that arrived from China on Monday 15 February 2021. 72
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Zimbabwe “has also submitted its expression of interest” to be part of an initiative by the African Union to bulk buy vaccines for the continent. The Zimbabwe Government says it has budgeted $100 million for vaccines and local businesses have also been asked to donate to the effort. Vaccination campaigns are just beginning to be launched across Africa, with jabs being given in just a handful of the continent’s 54 countries. Africa has a total population of 1.3 billion people and PRUH WKDQ PLOOLRQ FRQÀUPHG FDVHV RI &29,' DOWKRXJK WKDW·V believed to be an undercount. 6RXWK $IULFD ZKLFK KDV DSSUR[LPDWHO\ RI DOO FRQÀUPHG LQIHFWLRQV LQ Africa, began its vaccination campaign Wednesday using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Across Africa, a massive campaign is required to vaccinate an estimated 680 million people to achieve population immunity, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts expect vaccines to start arriving on the continent in higher quantities later this year and next year. Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, initially recorded low numbers RI &29,' LQ WKH ÀUVW PRQWKV RI WKH SDQGHPLF EXW UHFHQWO\ H[SHULHQFHG a spike in cases. There are fears that a new, more infectious variant of the virus came to the country when scores of thousands of Zimbabweans living in neighbouring South Africa returned home for the holiday season. Zimbabwe has reported 35,423 COVID-19 cases, including 1,418 deaths, DV RI )HEUXDU\ D VLJQLÀFDQW LQFUHDVH IURP MXVW RYHU FDVHV and 277 deaths at the beginning of December. The country’s once-robust public health system has deteriorated along with the economy over the past two decades. After being vaccinated, VP Chiwenga said new infections are beginning to drop “sharply.” “The marked decline in new cases is vividly heralding the end of the second wave of the pandemic,” he said.
