Govt allays vaccine expiry fears
TINASHE MAKICHI
Government has assured Zimbabweans that the country’s vaccines have some years to go before expiry.
Rumour swirling in the market has been indicating that most vaccines were close to reaching their expiry dates.
But, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa (pictured), on Tuesday this week allayed the fears.
“Government takes this opportunity to assure the nation that most of the country’s vaccines still have some years to go before expiration,” Mutsvangwa said.
She said as at November 15, 2021, the country’s cumulative Covid-19 cases stood at 133 471 with 128 305 recoveries and 4 697 deaths.
The recovery rate was 96% with 469 active cases reported.
The number of Covid-19 cases in schools is declining.
Mutsvangwa noted that the number of people in need of hospitalisation for Covid-19 also decreased, with no patients under intensive care.
In general, therefore, Mutsvangwa added that this indicates that the national response measures instituted by the government continue to pay off and that the pandemic is being brought under control.
Government, nonetheless, continues to call upon citizens to strictly observe the national and World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 protocols as well as to get vaccinated to prevent a fourth wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, Mutsvangwa said.
Regarding the national vaccination programme, as at November 15, 2021 a total of 3 483 353 first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered, while 2 706 096 people had received their second dose.
The cumulative weekly total number (first and second) of vaccines administered during the week under review increased to 144 253 from the 114 873 administered the previous week, indicating that the provincial vaccination blitz launched in October 2021 are yielding the desired results and will be strengthened.
Focus continues to be on achieving the end of year national and global target of total population coverage of 60% and 40%, respectively.
“To this end, members of the public are urged to present themselves for vaccination as Provincial Vaccination Teams have ramped up implementation of their respective District Vaccination Micro-Plans, including mobilisation campaigns,” Mutsvangwa said.
On the procurement of vaccines, 435 600 doses were received on November 5, 2021, bringing the cumulative number of vaccines received to date to 13.258 million doses.
Cabinet also announced the extension of the Level 2 Lockdown by an additional two weeks to enable all to heighten vaccination uptake in order to protect the nation against a possible fourth wave of the pandemic.
