Staff Reporter
…as people are made to pay for COVID-19 vaccines
The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) has exposed some Polyclinics for conducting corrupt activities, as they are demanding money from people seeking to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Speaking through a press statement, HRT Director Precious Shumba revealed that his team conducted service delivery monitoring exercises in different communities in and around Harare when they came across appalling cases of corruption that put people’s lives in danger.
“Today our HRT team was in Kuwadzana for service delivery monitoring in communities…
“A case in point is the nurses at Kuwadzana 4 Polyclinic who were seen to be conniving with the security guards to receive bribes in return for treatment including getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Director Shumba
Some victims stepped forward and revealed how they lost their hard earned cash to corrupt nurses and guards as they sought to be vaccinated against COVID-19
“The security guards at the main gate requests patients to indicate why they have come to the clinic. I mentioned that I had come for COVID-19 vaccination and I was made to pay US$5 that remained undocumented,” said Stella Chinengoni
Felix Maponda, added saying, “I was turned away at the gate for failing to produce the US$5 note and told that they were no longer taking people for vaccination that day.
“When I demanded that I wanted to also get some medical consultations done, I was told that the requested services were unavailable on that day,” said Maponda.
One woman, who had just delivered her baby the previous day, narrated her ordeal at the hands of the midwives at the same Polyclinic.
“I was made to pay US10 to the security guards at the gate, and inside the clinic, I paid US$25 and yet got a receipt of ZW$2000. I know that as a pregnant woman I am not supposed to pay for giving birth, it’s a national service,” retorted the woman who preferred to remain anonymous.
Meanwhile, the country has been experiencing an upsurge of people wanting to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This followed a spike in the number of infected cases as a result of the highly transmittable Delta variant of COVID-19. The clinics and all the vaccination centres have been overwhelmed with people scrambling to get vaccinated. The Government of Zimbabwe has however not disappointed as it continues to source for vaccines.
