Chronicle Editor
Hazel Marimbiza
WHILE thousands of people are getting vaccinated against Covid-19, health experts are warning it is not time to let our guard down, especially with new, more dangerous variants like Delta spreading.
Everyone needs to be concerned about Covid-19. In addition to getting fully vaccinated against the disease, experts say people should continue to uphold basic preventative measures.
Covid-19 vaccines have proven to be safe, effective and life-saving. But like all vaccines, they do not fully protect everyone who is vaccinated, and little is known on how well they can prevent people from transmitting the virus to others.
After being vaccinated, individuals should continue taking simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. People are also advised to get tested if they are sick, even if they’ve been vaccinated.
Recently, prominent medical doctor, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya told a publication that no amount of vaccinations will eradicate Covid-19 as long as people are not following the World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 preventions protocols.
“Coronavirus follows people’s behaviour. Right now people are extremely complacent, relaxed and they are still mixing and mingling. So the virus is following the people’s behaviour and yet we are having this terrible Delta variant,” said Dr Ngwenya.
He said the Delta Variant is highly contagious and encouraged people to follow prevention guidelines.
“Vaccinations are part of the prevention strategy but the behaviour of the population is critical in the way the Delta virus moves around. So it is entirely up to the population to control the spread of the pandemic,” said Dr Ngwenya.
WHO recently urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, social distance and practice other safety measures as the highly contagious Delta Variant spreads rapidly across the globe.
“People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves,” Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a news briefing from the agency’s Geneva, Switzerland headquarters.
“Vaccines alone won’t stop community transmission,” Dr Simao added. “People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene, observe the physical distance and avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing.”
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world is at a perilous point in this pandemic therefore, greater measures of individual protection are required.
“We have just passed the tragic milestone of 4 million recorded Covid-19 deaths, which likely underestimates the overall toll. Some countries with high vaccination coverage are now planning to roll out booster shots in the coming months and are dropping public health social measures and relaxing as though the pandemic is already over.”
Compounded by fast-moving variants and shocking inequity in vaccination, Dr Ghebreyesus said, far too many countries in every region of the world are seeing sharp spikes in cases and hospitalisation.
“This is leading to an acute shortage of oxygen, treatments and driving a wave of death in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America,” bemoaned the WHO chief.
“Vaccine nationalism, where a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally indefensible and an ineffective public health strategy against a respiratory virus that is mutating quickly and becoming increasingly effective at moving from human to human,” he added.
The health organisation’s comments come as surveys conducted across the country have shown that some people continue being reluctant on putting face masks and observing all health guidelines.
According to the Rapid Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (Pices) Monitoring Telephone Survey, jointly funded by the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (Zimref) and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), a proportion of people observing preventive health behaviours continued to fall from last year July to March this year.
Fifty-eight percent of people avoided social gatherings, down from 91 percent in July 2020 while a drop was also reported in wearing face masks and washing hands.
In his address to the nation on Covid-19 lockdown measures on July 12, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said complacency is the one of the contributing factors in the spike of the Covid-19 cases.
“Cases and deaths are continuing to increase at an alarming rate. A quick assessment on the ground points to the number of factors contributing to this surge. First, complacency by communities in adhering to prevention measures, including the lockdown and basic World Health Organisation protocols such as proper wearing of masks, washing of hands and social distancing,” he said.
The drop in the number of people observing the Covid-19 preventative health measures across the country can be a sign that some citizens are growing tired of the pandemic and the restrictions.
For instance, the majority of Zimbabweans have masks, but it appears a greater portion are getting tired of wearing them.
But with the deadly Delta Variant, which has proven to be problematic globally, now dominating most cases in the country, masking-up should be a priority for all.
“Wearing masks is very critical. By wearing a mask one limits their chance of contracting the virus,” WHO country representative, Dr Alex Gasasira told our sister paper The Herald.
“If one is infected and is wearing a mask the chances of them spreading it to the next person is reduced. If the other person is also wearing a mask the chances are further reduced. Masks are a critical measure that we all need to abide with at this time,” he added.
As part of measures to curb the spiralling Covid-19 cases in the country, the Government recently directed all ministries and departments to further reduce its staff complement to 10 percent.
The country remains under a stiffer level 4 lockdown under which gatherings except funerals are prohibited.
The Government has since intensified the vaccination programme in all the country’s 10 provinces as the third wave continues to rage.
As the fight continues, and the Government working hard to purchase more vaccines, citizens need to be vigilant in practising all safety measures to ensure that they protect themselves from Covid-19, even those who are fully vaccinated.
Online Reporter