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Herald Reporters

AS Zimbabwe balances the need to save lives and sustain livelihoods in the wake of a spike in Covid-19 infections, Government is set to rapidly increase the vaccination rate as more supplies arrive.

A shipment of 500 000 doses, enough for 250 000 people, arrived on Saturday last week and another consignment of 2 million doses will arrive very soon, President Mnangagwa confirmed yesterday.

The need for the present enhanced lockdown and accelerated vaccination was stressed again last night when the situation report from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare  showed 1 357 new cases and 19 deaths yesterday.

While infections and deaths were spread, Harare was in the lead with 253 of the cases and six of the deaths.

The Cabinet briefing on Tuesday said that after the imminent 2 million doses, three orders each of 1,5 million doses were expected next month and in September. 

Vaccination teams giving 1,5 million doses a month means an average rate of 50 000 jabs a day, which would be more than twice what the vaccination teams are averaging. 

The next four orders placed but still to arrive will take the total number of doses delivered to 8,76 million doses. When the fourth batch arrives in September, it would be enough to give 4,38 million people their two doses.

With little aid besides generous gifts from China, India and Russia, Zimbabwe is having to buy most of the vaccines it is using with its own resources. 

So far Zimbabwe has received commercial orders totalling 1,7 million doses, with another commercial order of 2 million imminent, and gifts totalling 560 000 doses.

Speaking after paying condolences to the family of late national hero Major General (Retired) Clever Shadreck Chiramba at his Hatfield home in Harare yesterday, President Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to observe the upgraded lockdown set by Government saying despite the inconveniences the measures were meant to save lives.

The late Maj-Gen (Rtd) Chiramba succumbed to Covid-19 complications at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals on Sunday.

President Mnangagwa said the pandemic had caused much suffering to people, especially the current third wave, which had seen a rapid rise in deaths and new infections.

He said the lockdown restrictions, including the need to wear face masks and hand sanitisation, were necessary to curb the spread of the disease.

“People should also be vaccinated. Do not listen to conspiracies about vaccines being peddled by some individuals. They are meant to protect us,” he said.

“We received 500 000 doses over the weekend and a further two million will come in the next days and a roll out plan will be announced that will also target rural areas.”

President Mnangagwa acknowledged that there had been shortages of vaccines last month but said Government was doing all it can to improve supply. 

Zimbabwe wasn’t receiving financial assistance to fight the pandemic due to the illegal sanctions and while it had received gifts of equipment and vaccines, was using its own resources for the bulk of the required vaccines.

President Mnangagwa said despite the financial constraints, Zimbabwe had one of the best vaccination programmes on the continent.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently said Zimbabwe would endeavour for a balance between the economy and saving lives.

“While we have this lockdown, we have made sure that essential services continue to be open, the private sector continues to function, exports continue to be moved around the world. Of course, we have introduced a shorter working day to restrain the movement of people as well as the transmission of the virus. So it’s a balancing act and we have set this just for two weeks. After that, we will review it and see where we can loosen the lockdown. 

“We are watching these things like a hawk. I do that (because) I know that an extended lockdown can reduce revenues and therefore affect our ability to respond to the pandemic. 

“We are balancing this seriously and I think we are in the right equilibrium.

“We have set aside a decent amount of resources to acquire vaccines. In fact, in the next three weeks we will embark on a blitz to vaccinate at least 2.5 million people over the next few weeks,” said Prof Ncube, once again confirming the need to increase vaccinations to around 50 000 jabs a day.

“The picture is never rosy. We are all reeling under the impact of the pandemic, but I can assure you that Zimbabwe is doing all it can to deal with the social impact of the pandemic. We have a very robust social programme that has various elements.”

To mitigate the effects of the pandemic, the Government has put in place mechanisms such as the productive sector protection scheme where farmers receive inputs, a measure that has resulted in the country registering a bumper harvest this year and relieving the country’s import bill.

“We are also protecting the vulnerable rural areas through cash transfers, free medication and the vaccine (against Covid-19) is free. 

“We also have free schooling for vulnerable children. Of course, we are doing this with the assistance of our international partners as well. 

“So something is being done and we believe we have had the best response to the pandemic so far, and our vaccination programme is fairly robust and well run,” said Prof Ncube.

Amid a surge in infections as well as the advent of new Covid-19 strains, world nations are in a frenetic race to acquire vaccines with some Western nations hogging supplies from their own factories and making it difficult for countries in Africa to place orders.

Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, Prof Ncube said Zimbabwe will remain open for business in a transparent manner buoyed by the latest reports from organisations such as the IMF which have projected economic growth regardless of the pandemic.

“The economy is very stable, it is growing, everything is transparent and we have a well-functioning anti-corruption commission that is bringing cases to book, and justice is taking its course, Zimbabwe has improved its ranking for ease of doing business,” he said.

With the economy expected to grow by more than 7 percent this year, thanks to increased capacity use, a bumper agricultural seasoning, and a buoyant mining sector, Prof Ncube said Zimbabwe will outpace its regional peers in terms of development this year.

“We are finding out that while we have been able to balance the budget, we have strong economic recovery where Zimbabwe’s economy is expected to grow faster than its peers in the region and its peers in Africa.”

By Wednesday 777 161 people had received the first dose of the vaccine while 555 277 have received the second dose. The country has recorded over 49 864 cases of Covid-19 and at least 1 789 deaths.

The third wave of Covid-19 was concentrated in Mashonaland West but infection rates are growing in other provinces while, as a result of the tight local lockdown in three provincial districts a fortnight ago, they are starting to stabilise in Mashonaland West.