More vaccines arrive

Harare Bureau
A delivery of 500 000 Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday from a batch of 1,5 million jabs, with another 500 000 doses expected today and the final 500 000 tomorrow.

At the same time the Government has boosted the vaccine budget by another US$40 million to add to the original US$100 million to ensure the supply chain remains fully funded and deliveries keep up with the growing demand and the growing capacity of the vaccination teams.

Speaking after the arrival of the vaccines yesterday, chief director curative services in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Maxwell Hove said the jabs the latest consignment would bring deliveries up to around eight million doses.

Dr Hove said another batch of one million Sinovac doses was expected next week on Tuesday.

Treasury set aside US$100 million to procure Covid-19 vaccines and last month Minister of Finance and Economic Development Prof Mthuli Ncube said about $90 million had been used to buy 12 million jabs with deliveries at regular intervals.

In an interview the Finance Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Mr George Guvamatanga said another US$40 million had now been released by Treasury to ensure the supply chain was fully funded in advance and no shortages would develop.

The cash is used to buy vaccines and the syringes and to pay for deliveries.

While Treasury was working on buying the needed doses as the main part of the supply chain, he said, donations were helping to extend that, and the Africa Union facility, to which Zimbabwe had made a down payment of US$7,5 million for five million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine had a loan facility for the balance.

The daily vaccine programme has been accelerating and on Tuesday managed to go above 100 000 jabs in a single day.

Almost 1,35 million people had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday with another 845 000 having entered the programme with their first dose.

Private pharmacists have started training to administer the Covid-19 vaccine as Government seeks to boost the programme by creating more points from which people can get their jabs.

Pharmacists will charge nominal administration fees while the vaccine itself remain free.