Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Health Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care will today start rolling out a mass vaccination programme in Plumtree targeted at reducing new Covid-19 cases in the border town.
Members of the public aged between 18 and 80 years from both Mangwe and Bulilima districts will also access the life saving vaccine from different health care centres.
Government has mobilised enough resources to roll out a mass vaccination programme in the country’s border towns where most residents are at high risk as they are largely dependent on economic activities related to cross-border trade and also meet those in transit.
In Plumtree, 25 000 people are targeted and in Beitbridge, the Ministry is targeting to vaccinate at least 26 000 adults.
In an interview during his visit to Plumtree Town yesterday, Ministry of Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro said migrants or foreigners who are permanently resident in the country will be immunised as Government presses ahead to reach national herd immunity of 10 million people.
He said Zimbabweans living in other countries are also going to be vaccinated during the exercise as they are still Government’s responsibility.
“We are in Plumtree today to see how the vaccination programme is being run and also check on how the border is being run. We have read about the outbreak which took place at Embakwe Mission High School in the past weeks and there is need to scale up vaccination at the school and all neighbouring villagers to control the spread of Covid-19,” said Dr Mangwiro.
He said the Plumtree business community should complement Government efforts by ensuring that vaccines are easily accessible to people.
“I know that the district may have challenges with transport but we all need to work together to fight Covid-19. This requires even the business community, the police and every stakeholders to spare resources and ensure that members of the public are vaccinated especially teachers and health care workers,” he said.
Dr Mangwiro added that Government will soon construct residential flats for health care workers so that they are motivated to continue serving in Plumtree and rural areas countrywide.
“In terms of herd immunity, we continue doing our things systematically and we take it by the day. If every Zimbabwean can be vaccinated as early possible and we continue ensuring that all border towns are well covered, we will definitely achieve herd immunity. Soon we are going to target Bulawayo and Harare and ensure there is a high concentration of people vaccinated there as the two major cities have the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths,” said Dr Mangwiro.
Plumtree district medical officer Dr Joe Nganono said unlike in other areas in Zimbabwe, more than 60 percent of all Covid-19 cases that have been recorded in the district since the outbreak of the pandemic are imported cases.
He said only a handful of frontline workers had been vaccinated including immigration officials who man the border post since the beginning of the vaccination programme.
“We have started rolling out the vaccination and the uptake has been slow as only a few people have come forward to be vaccinated. I do not have a consolidated figure but I am aware that less than 300 health care workers from the targeted 600 have been vaccinated so far,” said Dr Nganono.
“We hope that now that the ministry has come down, our efforts to fight Covid-19 will be scaled up and that we will get more resources to finish renovating the isolation centre within Plumtree District Hospital which will admit serious cases.” — @thamamoe.
Online Reporter