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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke-Senior Health Reporter

The national vaccination programme is now ready to start vaccinating teenagers against Covid-19, while a detailed monitoring plan has been put in place for the safe vaccination of pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The vaccination of the 16-17 years age group using Sinovac was approved and recommended recently by medical experts and is expected to increase the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Speaking after the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said sub-national structures had been tasked to come up with initiatives to speed up the vaccination programme and get more people vaccinated to achieve herd immunity by year end.

Pregnant and breast-feeding women can now be safely vaccinated. 

“The Ministry of Health and Child Care has put in place a detailed monitoring plan for the vaccination of pregnant and breastfeeding women as recommended by Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, in line with World Health Organisation guidelines,” she said.

Although Zimbabwe has seen a decline in the number of new Covid-19 cases and a good vaccination roll-out, vaccination rates declined with the case load as the third wave receded and the Government wants to see vaccination rates rise to protect the nation against a deadlier fourth wave.

As of Monday, a total of 3 379 391 first doses had been administered and 2 654 079 people had received their second dose, with more than 6 million doses administered.

“Cabinet would like to express appreciation for the response by Zimbabweans that has resulted in the country doing better than most countries in Africa. 

“However, we need to remain vigilant to ensure that we attain our set target of achieving herd immunity by year end. To this end, let us all ensure that all those who are yet to be vaccinated present themselves for inoculation. 

“The Government would like to assure the nation that the Government has procured adequate stocks for this exercise,” she said.

The Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care yesterday said the Government was going to increase the awareness campaigns on vaccines to ensure that more people went for their jabs.

“As a people, we need to get the herd immunity by year end and as Government we have strategies. We will go into schools and make them vaccination centres. Our population is mainly young people so we are going to go for them and we will be relying on the media as well to spread the word so that people get vaccinated. 

“Most countries are already experiencing the fourth wave and people are dying so we want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” he said.

“We will go out talking to people to spread the word, going into schools, into churches, reaching out to the people who need to be vaccinated. 

“More awareness is needed and we have put out mobile trucks and people to go into the communities so that we vaccinate all those who have not yet been vaccinated. It is something that needs a collective effort.”