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Midlands Bureau
Midlands received a batch of 15 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses as the province seeks to intensify its vaccination programme in the face of an increase in Covid-19 infections.

Midlands has in recent weeks recorded a spike in Covid-19 infections and Health and the Child Care Ministry last Thursday declared Gweru City a Covid-19 hotspot, joining Kwekwe City which was declared as such some weeks ago.

Acting Midlands Provincial director Dr Reginald Mhene told a Midlands provincial Covid-19 taskforce meeting that the vaccination programme had to be pushed into rural areas where there were a significant number of new cases have been  recorded of late, especially at the two extremes of Gokwe North and Mberengwa, besides the two cities.

“Going forward, our visibility should be felt in all communities. We are going to concentrate on the hotspots so that we curtail the spread of this pandemic. We want all our clinics to have the vaccines so we decongest main centres. We have noted that the situation on the ground now requires us to up our game, he said.

More than 72 000 people have already received their first dose in the province, while 55 000 have received their second shots.

Speaking at the same meeting, Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Larry Mavima said there was need for every citizen to act responsibly and get their jabs as the country moved to reach herd immunity.

“We need to have everybody vaccinated as soon as possible. We are also looking at making sure there is enforcement of measures announced by Government on new lockdown rules. We need to be strict. We are beginning to see changes on our roads particularly following the ban on inter-city travels, he said.

Sen Mavima said Government has sourced two new ambulances for Kwekwe and Gweru districts to be used specifically for Covid-19 patients.