By Health Reporter

President Mnangagwa yesterday urged the nation to embrace the Covid 19 vaccination programme and get vaccinated against the pandemic that has ravaged the entire world.

The President’s call comes at a time Zimbabwe currently has the third highest rate of vaccination in the SADC region.

“Zimbabwe Covid 19 vaccination programme is working. Zimbabwe has the third highest rate of vaccinations in SADC and eighth highest in Africa as a share of the population. We cannot lose this momentum. If you are eligible, I urge you all to get your jab,” said the President in a tweet.

Zimbabwe started to receive the Sinopharm Covid 19 vaccines on 15 February 2021 and four days later, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga volunteered to take the first jab at Wilkins Hospital in Harare.

President Mnangagwa then got his jab a month later in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Government has vowed to purchase a million doses each month, which will mean that 500 000 people will get vaccinated every month.

Government has targeted to vaccinate at least 60 percent of the country’s population in order to achieve herd immunity. Projections are that, to return to normalcy, vaccination levels should have covered at least 75 percent of the population.

In a bid to eliminate hassles, Government has increased the Covid 19 vaccination centres to ensure that the citizens can easily access the vaccines.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Child Care announced that a total of 205 275 people have been vaccinated against Covid 19.

The Ministry further informed that as of 12 April 2021, the country had 37 307 confirmed cases, including 34 901 recoveries and 1 542 deaths.