Christopher Makaza
While some nations including developed ones are battling to contain Covid-19, Zimbabwe has defied odds to mount a thorough and effective response to the pandemic, successfully minimising the effects of the disease on citizens.
The new dispensation is successfully mobilising for Covid-19 vaccine donations from friendly nations while purchasing some, a development which has received praises from the World Health Organisation (WHO) among other organisations.
The combination of efforts from both the Government and the citizens is helping the country reduce transmission and Covid-19 associated mortalities.
The Government has successfully urged citizens to continue adhering to the prescribed containment measures which include avoiding unnecessary gatherings, masking up, sanitising and taking up vaccines whenever an opportunity comes through the national vaccination roll-out programme.
To date, a total of 690 452 people in Zimbabwe have been vaccinated against Covid-19. As at 10 June 2021, Zimbabwe had 39 496 confirmed cases, including 36 940 recoveries and 1626 deaths.
The country’s vaccination programme aims to reach 10 million citizens and achieve a herd immunity of 60 percent of the entire population.
It is encouraging that Zimbabwe has currently been rated as a low risk destination for travellers by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a clear endorsement that the country is performing well regarding Covid-19 response.
Fifty countries across the globe including Zimbabwe, China, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Iceland received the high rating and were classified as low risk destinations.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recently applauded the path Zimbabwe’s health system is taking, saying they were encouraged by the progress that is being registered, with an increasing number of people being reached and vaccinated against Covid-19.
Zimbabwe’s vaccination programme has been so well run that a good number of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, including foreigners are coming to get their shots in the country.
South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters leader, Julius Malema hailed Zimbabwe’s vaccination programme saying very soon South Africans will be illegally crossing the border to seek vaccination in Zimbabwe as the southern African country is experiencing serious vaccine shortages.
Malema says, like many South Africans, he was considering coming to Zimbabwe to get vaccinated because chances that they will get the vaccination any time soon in his country are very slim. He fears that many South Africans will die before they are vaccinated.
On February 18 2021, Zimbabwe was one of the first countries in the WHO African region to launch the roll out of Covid-19 vaccination, a manifestation of the country’s leadership in dealing with the pandemic in the African region and globally. Front line workers who included health workers got the first of the 200 000, Sinopharm vaccines donated by China.
The Government recently introduced localised lockdown in Kwekwe with a view to controlling the spread of a variant first detected in India. According to the Health and Childcare Ministry, localised lockdowns are tools aimed at containing the spread of the pandemic outside a specific area. The idea seems to have worked as no other place in the country has recorded the Indian variant besides Kwekwe.
Recently the country’s Covid-19 response and health services received 20 ambulances from India and the African Development Bank while the first batch of 100 ambulances secured by the Government are expected in the country end of this month. The ambulances will go a long way in equipping the health sector in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Early this week, the country received 25 000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia through Alrosa Zimbabwe and has previously received thousands other doses from China. The country is also expecting another batch of 500 000 doses of vaccine by 15 June 2021 as the fight against the pandemic continues.
