RYAN CHIGOCHE
The Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) has demanded accountability and transparency in the procurement and distribution of Covid 19 vaccines, the Business Times reports.
In its latest report, ZDI said in some marginalised parts of the country, civil servants were the only ones accessing Covid-19 vaccines. Some people, ZDI said, were travelling long distances to access the vaccine.
Some were being turned away at various inoculation points.
Government, ZDI said, should ensure that Covid-19 vaccines are made available and accessible to all people.
“The government must immediately make use of the declared budget surplus budget of ZW$9,8bn to procure adequate Covid-19 vaccines that meet the demand emanating from a spike in infections this winter season.’’
“The civil societies must demand more transparency and accountability in the procurement and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines…” part of the ZDI report reads.
The report comes at a time when the country is battling a spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths.
Government introduced the inoculation exercise in February this year, with a target to achieve herd immunity which is about 60% of the population.
Zimbabwe has been hit by a third wave of Covid-19, as well as the Indian variant, which has already been confirmed in the Midlands Province.
According to the government, as of June 28, 764 248 people in Zimbabwe had received their first dose of the Covid vaccine, while 534,906 had received their second.
Last week, Zimbabwe received 500 000 Sinopharm more doses from China with another 2m expected by the end of this week.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing rising cases of Covid-19 pandemic over the past two weeks.
The total number of active cases went up to 7,586 on June 28 from 5,892 on June 25, according to official data obtained from the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
As of Monday, Zimbabwe had recorded 47,284 cases, 37,949 recoveries and 1,749 deaths since the first Covid-19 case was recorded in March last year.
