NEW: Government to roll out cholera vaccine on Monday

Fatima Bulla-Musakwa

GOVERNMENT will take delivery of cholera vaccines on Sunday, with a vaccination rollout campaign expected to commence the following day in hotspot areas.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora made the announcement during a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services in Harare on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe will receive 892 286 doses of the oral cholera vaccine from a total allocation of 2,3 million granted by the International Coordination Group on Vaccine Provision.

Because of shortages of the vaccine in the world, only one dose — instead of the standard two  —  will be administered, with an expected protection of at least six months.

Two doses have a protection of more than three years.

Dr Mombeshora said the vaccines will be administered orally to those above the age of one.

“The vaccination campaign is expected to start on the 29th of January in a phased approach to the hotspots.

“This is because the doses are not enough to cover the whole country. So, we have targeted to start with the hotspots and then roll on to the other affected districts as we receive more vaccines.”

Confirmed and suspected deaths currently stand at 447 since the beginning of the outbreak in February last year.

The targeted hotspots include Mutare Rural and Urban, Buhera, Gutu, Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Mberengwa, Zvishavane, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, Kariba, Mazowe, Mbire, Mt Darwin and Chitungwiza.

In Harare, they include Kuwadzana, Glen View, Glen Norah, Budiriro, Mbare, Southlea Park and Highfield.

Government is treating any diarrheal case as cholera for management purposes so that there is no delay in managing cases.

As of yesterday, cumulative suspected cases stood at 20 121 recorded since the beginning of the outbreak in February last year.

Cholera is mainly driven by poor sanitation, burst sewer pipes, intermittent refuse collection, climate change, flooding and droughts.

Recent surges during the festive season were caused by gatherings and movements in artisanal-mining areas, among other factors.