The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa on Tuesday received the second batch of 344 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses from the People’s Republic of China at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.
The consignment comprised 200 000 doses donated by China and 144 000 doses that were bought by the Government from Sinopharm. Apart from the 344 000 doses received today, the country is also expecting 75 000 doses from India and another 20 000 doses of Sputnik-V vaccine from Russia soon.
Receiving the consignment at the RGM Airport, President Mnangagwa expressed his gratitude for the donation from China saying the country has received a lot of support in terms of managing the virus and this new consignment will aid in fighting the virus.
“On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe, and indeed on my own behalf, allow me to yet again express my profound gratitude to His Excellency, President Xi Jinping and the fraternal people of China for this generous gesture of support. Their continued assistance and solidarity has indeed lightened our burden in an otherwise difficult period whilst also positively impacting the health, well-being, protection and recovery of our people,” he said.
President Mnangagwa also said Zimbabwe was making steady progress in the fight against the pandemic and in the on-going National Covid-19 Vaccination Roll-out Programme.
“We remain thankful to China for the support of this programme. This includes the timely provision of epidemiological expertise and personal protective equipment (PPE) among other aspects. My administration is confident that this vaccination intervention will greatly contribute to our country’s realisation of herd immunity. The National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme will further guarantee a Zimbabwe that continues on its course to achieve Vision 2030. We are determined to emerge out of this pandemic with greater capability to play a more effective role towards peace, harmony and prosperity within the comity of nations,” he said.
Zimbabwe has also pledged to deliver a consignment of 100 000 vaccine doses that is destined for Namibia free of charge, that is also from China.
Treasury has set aside US$100 million for the procurement of vaccines that will see 10 million of the population being inoculated in order to achieve herd immunity.
@NyembeziMu
