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Roselyne Sachiti

Features, Health and Society Editor

Zambia will join other African countries who are already administering the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine following an offer by China to provide the inoculation to the SADC country.

The announcement comes a few days after Sinopharm was approved for emergency us by the World Health Organization (WHO).

SADC countries already administering the Sinopharm vaccine include Zimbabwe, Namibia, Seychelles and Mozambique.

Other African countries outside SADC already using the Sinopharm jab include Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leon and Somalia.

Media reports from Zambia said a senior government official on Wednesday made the announcement of China’s intention to provide the country with the Sinopharm vaccines.

In a statement Zambian minister of health Jonas Chanda said Sinopharm, was safe and efficacious.

The health minister added that there has been an increased number of people getting the vaccine since the launch of the program last month with 90,916 people vaccinated so far.

“This is clear evidence that Zambians have accepted the COVID-19 vaccination program and discarded the various myths, misinformation and conspiracy theories,” he said.

According to Africa CGTN, Zambia is currently implementing the first phase of the vaccination program which falls under the COVAX Facility and was mainly targeted at health workers and other people most at risk.

The program is being conducted in a phased manner on a voluntary basis.

Meanwhile, the country’s cumulative COVID-19 cases have reached 92,211 following 59 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.- Additional information Africa CGTN