BEVERLY HILLS, February 15, (THEWILL) – Zimbabwe has received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced.
The President, today, shared photos of a cargo plane with COVID-19 vaccines while making the announcement via his official Twitter handle.
He also announced the country would start COVID-19 vaccination this week.
“The first batch of vaccines for Zimbabwe has been successfully delivered. We start vaccinating Zimbabweans this week!
“The faster our country is protected against this virus, the faster Zimbabwe’s economy can flourish”, Mnangagwa tweeted.
This positions Zimbabwe as the first southern African country to start inoculating citizens.
Zimbabwe Health Ministry had earlier on Friday said it will begin its Covid-19 vaccination campaign this week.
The ministry said it expects to take delivery of the first shipment of 800,000 vaccine doses, 200,000 of which were donated by the Chinese government.
“The vaccine will immediately be distributed to all provinces and districts across the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The vaccination programme begins next week after the country takes delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines”, it added.
The vaccines will be first distributed to 10 provincial storage facilities, then to 1,800 clinics, it said, adding that there was adequate cold chain equipment to keep the vaccines “in their potent state up to the point of use”.
Frontline workers deemed most at risk of infection have been lined up to receive the first shots.
The government aims to vaccinate 10 million of its over 14.5 million population to achieve community immunity.
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