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Mukudzei Chingwere Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe is not considering giving booster shots for Covid-19 vaccines for now after satisfactory progress on the national immunisation campaign against the global pandemic.
Authorities said science would be followed before any decision was reached on the matter.
Other countries, especially the developed ones, are now giving booster shots to fortify immunity against the virus that has been mutating.
Chief Coordinator of the National Response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Agnes Mahomva said instead of just following what other countries were doing, they would be guided by local and global scientific research.
“We are saying Covid-19 remains a new disease,” she said. “There are a lot of new things being learnt, the vaccination itself is new so hence new things come on.
“A number of countries are introducing these so-called booster shots based on whatever information they have at their level. We as Zimbabwe are also continuously tracking the global science researches, but also guided by our own local science.”
Dr Mahomva said local science meant an analysis of the country’s vaccination data and making sense of it.
“If we look at ours, it is very clear that we have got to prioritise and focus on getting our coverage up instead of trying to do booster shots before we have covered a lot of people,” she said.
“In terms of public health, that is the best way forward for now.
That does not mean it won’t change tomorrow or next week or next month, as we continue analysing our situation.
Zimbabwe has so far defied the odds with a thorough and effective response to the pandemic and has won the praise of the World Health Organisation and other countries.
Online Reporter