Residents stampede for COVID-19 jabs

HUNDREDS of Karoi residents stampeded for COVID-19 vaccines at the weekend as demand for the jabs to curb the spread of the virus continues to rise.

Government last month declared Hurungwe, Kariba and Makonde as COVID-19 hotspots and put them under localised lockdowns.

Hurungwe district medical officer Munyaradzi Wilbur Chidaushe yesterday told NewsDay that large numbers of residents, some coming from nearby farms and villages, scrambled for the jab at the weekend at Karoi Hospital and other health facilities.

"We expect the demand to keep increasing as citizens heed the call by government to get vaccinated," he said.

Kariba district medical officer Godwin Muza said: "There was also huge demand for the life-saving vaccines in the resort town, but health authorities are yet to get more supplies of the doses after previous supplies ran out."

Demand for the jabs is also reportedly high in Makonde district, which incorporates Chinhoyi, where the municipality is inviting residents to get immunised at its clinics in Mzari, Chikonohono, Gadzema and Alaska.

At the weekend, Health deputy minister John Mangwiro also said vaccine uptake in Mashonaland West province had increased, with 20 000 people getting the jab.

"I was impressed and grateful by the response from the general public to get vaccinated in Mashonaland West province as a whole," he said.