Chronicle Editor
Mthabisi Tshuma, Chronicle Correspondent
MORE than 50 000 people are expected to be vaccinated in Plumtree and Beitbridge towns during Government’s massive vaccination exercise targeting border towns.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is rolling out a border posts vaccination campaign targeting close to 200 000 people countrywide excluding those in Victoria Falls where mass vaccination started last month.
More than 26 000 people are expected to be vaccinated in Beitbridge and more than 25 000 in Plumtree.
President Mnangagwa launched the Second Phase of the national vaccination programme in Victoria Falls last month and also took his first jab.
The First Phase of the campaign launched on February 18, targeted some 60 000 healthcare workers and other frontline workers.
In an interview, Matabeleland South Provincial Epidemiology and Disease Control Officer, Dr Andrew Felix Muza said they met yesterday to identify vaccination points in the two towns.
“The launch of the massive vaccination programme will be tomorrow in Beitbridge and we are expecting the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Dr John Mangwiro to officiate,” said Dr Muza.
Speaking during a provincial taskforce meeting held on Sunday afternoon in Gwanda, Matabeleland South provincial taskforce team chairperson under the Ad-Hoc Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Mangaliso Ndlovu said the rollout of the massive vaccination exercise comes at a time when the province is lagging behind in terms of people getting inoculated.
“On February 18, the Government rolled out the vaccination programme and as Matabeleland South province where are we? You will realise that this is a province which is the gateway into the country. We have two major land borders that people use when visiting the country and this is what makes it important for the vaccination programme to be rolled out here. It’s two months since the programme was rolled out and statistics availed to us at the Cabinet meeting last Tuesday showed that Matabeleland South had 6 594 people vaccinated which is the lowest number when compared to other provinces,” said Minister Ndlovu.
He said this was a cause for concern given that the province has two very busy borders.
“It’s possible that we may have changed in the past week but we need to be talking to the people so that we are leading as a province in this vaccination campaign,” said Minister Ndlovu. — @mthabisi_mthire
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