Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
COVID-19 vaccination sites will soon be set up at intra and intercity bus termini across the country while commuters will be required to produce valid vaccination cards to board public transport, as part of measures to curb the renewed spike in new infections.

Cabinet proposed the additional mitigation measures yesterday, which will also see the country scaling up the vaccination blitz for minors aged from 16 to 17, and strict enforcement of existing lockdown regulations.

To buttress the mass vaccination momentum the country took delivery on Monday of 1,25 million Covid-19 doses, which will be administered to boost national herd immunity target of at least 10 million citizens by the end of this month.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced the proposed measures in her post-Cabinet media briefing where she stated that the Government was concerned with the recent jump in daily Covid-19 infections.

For instance, on Monday the country recorded more than 2 555 new infections while the previous day only 523 cases had been recorded.

The rise in Covid-19 infections come at a time when Zimbabwe, among other nations, has started to record the new Omicron variant, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) described as a variant of concern given its perceived risks.

“Cabinet notes, with concern, that there has been a sharp increase in the average total number of new cases reported per day during the past two weeks,” said the minister.

“Government, therefore, calls upon citizens to strictly observe the national and WHO Covid-19 protocols, most importantly the regulations contained in Statutory Instrument (SI) 267 announced last week, which will be strictly enforced.”

Going forward, as Government continues to implement measures to contain the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Minister Mutsvangwa encouraged unvaccinated citizens to get jabbed saying stricter regulations will soon be imposed to promote vaccination of citizens.

“Government will be establishing vaccination sites at the main intra and inter-city bus termini so as to ensure that those not vaccinated but wish to do so can have doses administered before they board the public transport,” she said.
“Please note that there will be a time when people will not be allowed to board public transport without a valid vaccination card.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said as part of the measures to increase the vaccination drive Government will continue to implement an inoculation blitz in schools targeting 16 to 17-year-olds.
The country has also continued to increase procurement of vaccines with three million vaccine doses expected in the country in the next few days.

“On the procurement of vaccines, it is advised that 1,25 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines were delivered on 6 December 2021, constituting the first batch of the 2.5 million doses procured.

“The remaining 1,25 million vaccines of the order are expected before the end of the week,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“The country is also expecting a donation of one million doses from the People’s Republic of China. Government assures the citizenry that the country has adequate stocks of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), sanitisers and medicines required for supportive management of Covid-19.”

Government has committed towards vaccination of all eligible citizens. As of Tuesday, a total of 3,88 million citizens had administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 2,89 million people had received their second dose.

“The cumulative number of 1st and 2nd doses of vaccines administered during the week under review increased to 190 899 from the 148 980 administered the previous week, indicating that the total number of doses administered during the week had increased,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.–@nqotshili