Mukudzei Chingwere
Herald Reporter
All civil servants are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with those vaccinated in the early months of the programme now going for their booster shots amid general agreement that the civil service offers a model for everyone else.
While civil servants were told last year to get vaccinated or be sent home without pay, the responsible minister, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima, now acknowledges that persuasion was adequate and that everyone had their shots without any heavy-handedness being used.
No action has been taken against any hold-outs as there are none.
Speaking to The Herald yesterday, the minister noted that all eligible members of the public service have been vaccinated.
The Government saw both President Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga publicly vaccinated at the beginning of the national programme and then civil servants lining up in batches, with the most at risk going first.
“There was total uptake of the Covid-19 vaccines amongst civil servants, they have set an example which should be followed by others,” said Minister Mavima.
“Vaccination is no longer an issue among civil servants; they are vaccinated. I am happy to say some of them have received booster shots and others are still going to get their booster jabs.
“Civil servants are a demographic that represents almost everyone in the country and if we take a cue from them we will be guaranteed of achieving figures recommended by health experts.
“The civil service consists of well-educated people, upright and professional. Their judgment is generally good, we did not need to enforce the requirement of being vaccinated,” said Prof Mavima.
Booster shots can only be given after at least six months have passed since the second dose, but there were groups of civil servants who had priority in the early days of the national programme, such as health workers, who are now eligible for a booster and they are the ones lining up.
Zimbabwe is committed to protect its citizenry against the global pandemic through scientific means, and the World Health Organisation has identified vaccines as the best way forward in responding to this virus.
Government is funding the immunisation programme and is committed to vaccinating everyone for free after the Treasury released money to fund the exercise.
US$100 million was committed for the purchase of the shots in the first phase before an additional US$40 million was released by the Treasury to ensure an undisrupted supply of vaccines.
On top of the purchase orders placed by the Government, Zimbabwe has received some donations mainly from China, exploiting the good bilateral relations that exist between the two republics.
President Mnangagwa is on record that no one will be left behind and since the start of the national vaccination programme in February last year, doses were readily available across the country with a major upgrade of the supply chain and outreach in July last year when vaccination rates shot up as a result.
The challenge of reaching huge figures in terms of those vaccinated was attributed to slow acceptance of jabs by the citizenry, some were citing unverified safety concerns, usually spread by people without any medical training at all, on social media, despite assurances by WHO.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa and his Cabinet ministers received their booster shots recently, setting the example for the rest of the country to take a leaf and join the national vaccination programme.
Health Services Board chair Dr Paulinas Sikhosana is on record urging health workers to get the booster shots to boost their immunity against the virus.
Government has also advised that there shall be no mixing of different vaccine types and for booster shots people should use the same vaccine type they were immunised with for their two doses.