“Vaccinate to achieve herd immunity”

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Online Reporter

GWANDA district nursing officer, Mrs Filter Sibanda has urged people in the district to get vaccinated so that herd immunity is achieved.

Speaking during a meeting in Gwanda today, Mrs Sibanda said the district had a target to vaccinate 111 813 people. She said 66 percent of the population have received the first dose, 75 percent have received the second dose while only 27 percent have received the third dose.

Mrs Sibanda said vaccines were readily available at all vaccination points across the district but turnout was low.

“As the Ministry of Health and Child Care we would like to urge stakeholders from the district to get vaccinated against Covid-19. We are still far from reaching our target and we can only reach it if people get vaccinated. The cases that are being recorded daily might have gone down but the pandemic is still there and people have to take it upon themselves to ensure they are protected,” she said.

According to the latest Covid-19 update from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, as at October 9 the country had recorded 257 749 confirmed cases, including 251 737 recoveries and 5 604 deaths. To date, a total of 6 538 404 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

A total of 1 104 people received their first dose bringing the cumulative to 6 538 404. Also, 1 166 received their second dose bringing the total for the second dose to 4 892 799 and the cumulative total for the third dose is 1 169 639.

@DubeMatutu