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Herald Reporters
Stage Two of Phase One of the Covid-19 vaccination will commence immediately catering for teachers, tobacco merchants and hospitality industry workers following the arrival of more vaccines yesterday.

The country received 400 000 doses from China comprising 200 000 Sinopharm doses that were donated by China and 200 000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine that Government purchased.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said 36 786 people had so far been vaccinated within the first 20 days of the programme with all provinces receiving coverage.

“In order to utilise the existing capacity as agreed at the last meeting, Cabinet resolved that Stage Two of Phase One of the vaccination roll-out will include tobacco merchants and their workers, teachers and hospitality industry workers, and this should commence immediately,” she said.

The first stage of the vaccination programme targeted frontline workers that include health workers, the security sector and the media among others.

The minister said efforts were underway to increase vaccination awareness to reach the minimum of 60 percent of the population vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

To this end, the number of vaccinators would be increased by involving the health workers in the uniformed forces, local authorities and health service retirees.

Minister Mutsvangwa said two documents, the deployment vaccination plan and information on frequently asked questions had been translated into all official languages.

“The deployment vaccination plan is being disseminated as part of the awareness campaign and advocacy. It will help educate people that they will be vaccinated for free,” she said.

The information on frequently asked questions included different types of vaccines, how they worked, the benefits of being vaccinated and safety of vaccines among others.