Zimbabwe expected to begin COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday

Zimbabwe is expected to begin its COVID-19 vaccine rollout on Thursday.

On Monday, Vice President and Health Minister, Constantino Chiwenga, received a donation of 200 000 SinoPharm vaccines from China.

The first phase of vaccination in Zimbabwe will be on a voluntary basis and will be targeted at frontline workers. They include healthcare staff, immigration officials and funeral practitioners.

The Zimbabwean government is aiming to vaccinate 20% of the population in the first phase of the campaign, with an additional batch with 600 000 doses of SinoPharm having being purchased by the government to supplement the donation.

The new consignment is expected in a month’s time.

Meanwhile, the government says genome sequencing done in the country shows 60% of all its cases are of the COVID-19 501y.V2 variant.

Zimbabwe has recorded over 35 000 cases and more than 1 400 deaths.

Zimbabwe receives COVID-19 vaccines from China:

Govt to vaccinate 10 million Zimbabweans against Covid19 https://t.co/eYd4mmyEpM

— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) February 10, 2021

#PostCabinetMediaBrief Efforts to procure other COVID-19 vaccines such as Sputnik V (Victory) from Russia, among others, are under way. India, like China, has also offered a donation and an option to purchase commercially & modalities for this offer are still being worked out. pic.twitter.com/ytbZrnOZtK

— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) February 9, 2021