Chronicle Editor
Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Mat South Bureau Chief
All vaccination centres and district hospitals in Matabeleland South province are ready to administer Covid-19 booster jabs to members of the public as the country scales up efforts to fight the infection.
The country started administering Covid-19 booster shots for frontline workers who were vaccinated more than six months ago to increase their immunity against the deadly pandemic.
The booster shot administration comes at a time when the country is recording an increase in Covid-19 deaths and infections.
On Thursday, Zimbabwe had 220 178 confirmed cases including 191 000 recoveries and 5 108 deaths.
To date, 4 153 879 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Early last month President Mnangagwa announced that the country had procured enough vaccines to enable it to administer booster shots to eligible citizens.
Zimbabwe is targeting to vaccinate at least 10 million citizens to achieve herd immunity.
Matabeleland South provincial medical director Dr Rudo Chikodzore said vaccination teams in the province were ready to administer booster jabs to all eligible citizens.
“We received a circular some time before Christmas on how to start the jabs. Vaccination has already started in all the districts in the province. All vaccination centres and district hospitals in the province have started administering the Covid-19 booster jabs,” said Dr Chikodzore.
She said members of the public should present their vaccination cards to vaccination teams in order to receive their booster jabs.
“The vaccination teams are ready so people just have to present themselves and their vaccination cards and then they’ll be vaccinated,” said Dr Chikodzore.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) approved the use of Sinopharm and Sinovac from China, Covaxin from India and Russia’s Sputnik V.
Commenting on the booster shots recently, Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZiMA) president Dr Francis Chiwora said vaccines fade away over time hence booster shots are necessary.
“If you get vaccinated it stimulates the immunity to a certain level but with the passage of time, that immunity tends to wear off.
It’s like someone who has taken food or a drink. Let’s say beer for instance, if someone drinks alcohol, the levels in the blood go up to a certain level but with the passage of time, it wears off until it is not there. When you get a booster, your immunity levels are boosted,” said Dr Chiwora.
The country has been recording a huge spike in new infections in recent weeks following the discovery of the new variant, Omicron.
The Omicron variant is a highly mutated variant of Covid-19 whose potency and impact is feared could evade vaccine-induced immunity to the virus.
It has been detected in many countries globally and in all continents except for Antarctica. — @Yolisswa
Online Reporter