News / National
Bulawayo frontliners to get second vaccination
24 Mar 2021 at 06:11hrs | Views
FRONTLINE workers in Bulawayo who last month received their first dose of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine will this week get their second doses with continued calls for more health care workers to get inoculated.
So far Bulawayo Province has recorded 5 425 Covid-19 cases, 5 117 recoveries, 98 active cases and 210 deaths.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care says as of Monday, March 22, 42 394 people had received their first dose of the vaccine in Zimbabwe. Only about 280 of those have received their second dose in different parts of the country.
Bulawayo acting provincial medical director Dr Welcome Mlilo said frontliners started receiving the second dose on Monday.
"This week we are starting administering the second doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and we invite those who qualify to approach any of our centres and get inoculated. Those in the eligible population who are still yet to get their first jab are still being encouraged to present themselves for vaccination at the vaccination centres," said Dr Mlilo.
He said vaccination remains voluntary.
"Our role is to provide the population with relevant, available information so that people can make an informed consent. The ministry continues to provide relevant and reliable information on the vaccines. We continue to strongly encourage those who are at greatest risk of Covid-19 infection to get vaccinated. The vaccine is safe," he added.
The immunisation programme is targeting 10 million people in three phases to complete the exercise.
The first phase of the programme targeted frontline workers who included health workers, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officials, Customs and Immigration employees, journalists and members of the security sector.
Government has procured 600 000 more Sinopharm vaccine doses from China as it steps up efforts to inoculate 10 million citizens and an additional 1,2 million doses are on the way.
China also pledged to donate another 200 000 doses of vaccine in addition to the 200 000 which have been delivered and are being used in the vaccination programme. The inoculation of citizens will enable the country to achieve 60 percent herd immunity.
So far Bulawayo Province has recorded 5 425 Covid-19 cases, 5 117 recoveries, 98 active cases and 210 deaths.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care says as of Monday, March 22, 42 394 people had received their first dose of the vaccine in Zimbabwe. Only about 280 of those have received their second dose in different parts of the country.
Bulawayo acting provincial medical director Dr Welcome Mlilo said frontliners started receiving the second dose on Monday.
"This week we are starting administering the second doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and we invite those who qualify to approach any of our centres and get inoculated. Those in the eligible population who are still yet to get their first jab are still being encouraged to present themselves for vaccination at the vaccination centres," said Dr Mlilo.
He said vaccination remains voluntary.
"Our role is to provide the population with relevant, available information so that people can make an informed consent. The ministry continues to provide relevant and reliable information on the vaccines. We continue to strongly encourage those who are at greatest risk of Covid-19 infection to get vaccinated. The vaccine is safe," he added.
The immunisation programme is targeting 10 million people in three phases to complete the exercise.
The first phase of the programme targeted frontline workers who included health workers, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officials, Customs and Immigration employees, journalists and members of the security sector.
Government has procured 600 000 more Sinopharm vaccine doses from China as it steps up efforts to inoculate 10 million citizens and an additional 1,2 million doses are on the way.
China also pledged to donate another 200 000 doses of vaccine in addition to the 200 000 which have been delivered and are being used in the vaccination programme. The inoculation of citizens will enable the country to achieve 60 percent herd immunity.
Source - chronicle
