Rural Covid-19 vaccination gathers momentum

Source: Rural Covid-19 vaccination gathers momentum | The Sunday News

Vaccination in Binga

Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE country’s Covid-19 vaccination exercise is gathering momentum in remote areas as Government ups its drive towards achieving herd immunity.

UMzingwane constituency in Matabeleland South will from tomorrow until Tuesday next week see locals being vaccinated at various centres including clinics. There will also be a mobile vaccination team. The constituency was allocated 5 000 doses. Vaccination will take place at Habane in Esigodini, Mzingwane, Mawabeni, Esibomvu, Shale, Mbizingwe, Irisvale, Nswazi, Kumbudzi, Dula, Mhlahlandlela, How Mine, Nhlangano, Ntshamathe, Zimbili and Mpisini.

Last week, posting on his Twitter account, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana showed a number of visuals in Binga and Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North province noting that the rural vaccination programme was gathering pace.

“Rural vaccination programme Tsholotsho: vaccination is ongoing in the district’s health facilities. There are 23 vaccination sites (three hospitals and 20 clinics) . . . In Binga residents queue up to receive the vaccines. Queues started forming as early as 8:30AM and have continued to get longer.

“In Lupane, the vaccines have so far been distributed to five health centres: St Luke’s, Lupane, Jotsholo, Fatima and Gwayi. The remaining eight centres are still to receive their vaccines owing to logistic challenges which are being addressed.

“Bubi Inyathi District Hospital received 2000 doses of Sinopharm1 on the 8th of July 2021. These will be administered in the district’s 11 clinics. The district has one isolation centre in the District with 20 male returnees received on Saturday 10 July 2021 from South Africa quarantined,” wrote Mr Mangwana.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet meeting briefing last Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa revealed that the vaccination drive opened up further, with more doses set to be distributed around the country’s 10 provinces.

“Cabinet reports that out of the two million doses of vaccine that the Ministry of Health and Child Care received on 8th July, 2021 every province received 50 000 first doses except for Harare and Bulawayo Metropolitan provinces which received 100 000 doses each. A total of 1,5 million vaccine doses will be distributed this coming week. The nation is informed that vaccination is now open to everybody, with frontline personnel still being prioritised at vaccination centres,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa said as demand for jabs increased, extra manpower from the security services had been enlisted to assist in the vaccination drive.

“Cabinet is pleased to note that citizens across the country continue to present themselves for vaccination in large numbers. In order to minimise the time spent in queues, extra personnel from security and defence forces have been harnessed so as to increase the numbers of personnel at the vaccination centres.

“Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Child Care, working with relevant Government Departments, is taking measures to ensure that vaccination, rapid response and case management teams are supported with vehicles, fuel and subsistence allowance to ensure that the country achieves herd immunity,” she said