Zimbabwe on Monday received the first shipment of 200,000 doses of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, donated by the Chinese government, at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare, reported Africa News.
As per the Zimbabwe government’s three-phase inoculation program, the vaccination will begin with frontline workers at high risk of infection, such as doctors and nurses, and will be followed by those with chronic diseases, the elderly, and the prison population. The second phase is for those at medium risk, and the third phase covers everyone else willing to be vaccinated.
Notably, many more doses beyond the first batch of 200,000 will be necessary to achieve herd immunity in Zimbabwe as 60% of its population, i.e. 10 million people would need to get vaccinated. Another batch of 600,000 doses purchased by the government is expected to arrive sometime early next month.
Last week, the Zimbabwe government appealed to the citizens to take part in the free, voluntary COVID-19 vaccination program, as some people remain citizens skeptical about the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine.
The Sinopharm vaccine is approved in China for general public use and is also being given in a number of other countries.
In a televised address on Friday night, Zimbabwe’s deputy health minister, Dr. John Mangwiro, said the government was introducing the voluntary, free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccinations to reduce COVID-19 infections and deaths in the country.
“The Sinopharm vaccine, which has proven to be effective in clinical trials and has efficacy rate ranging from 76% and 86%, has already been used by other countries in controlling COVID-19,” he said.
The minister said the government is also in advanced negotiation talks to acquire the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, which is also effective against COVID-19.
Zimbabwe has reported 35,104 COVID-19 cases and almost 1,398 deaths as of Sunday. The total number of recoveries stands at around 30,600.
