- Only 779 229 people have been fully vaccinated as of 2 August 2021
- At least 10m people should be vaccinated by year-end to achieve herd immunity
- US$93.2m of the budgeted US$100m for vaccines already exhausted
HARARE - As the clock ticks towards year-end, statistics show that the number of people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) remains low when measured against the 60 percent vaccination target set by the government for the year.
With only 16.5 percent having been vaccinated as of 2 August 2021, and only 150 days left to close the year, the hope to reach the herd immunity target remains dull, with the government expected to take firmer action to meet the target.
Following the presentation of the mid-term budget review statement in Parliament last week on Thursday by Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, indications are that the rollout of the vaccines is likely to be delayed by the drying up of COVID-19 funds after exhausting US$93.2 million of the US$100 million budgeted for vaccine procurement.
This means that Treasury is only left with US$6.8 million for vaccine procurement. The country has imported 11.8 million doses and 7.2 million syringes, hence a need to find additional funding.
So far, the country has received 6.78 million doses which can only account for about 3.3 million fully vaccinated individuals.
The figures show that the remaining US$6.8 million can purchase 860 thousand doses taking the total to 12.66 million doses.
Therefore, this means that the country needs additional funds to purchase 7.34 million doses to reach 20 million doses which are required to vaccinate 10 million people (accounting for 60 percent of the total population) to achieve herd immunity by 31 December 2021.
Minister Ncube said that he was hopeful of using the country's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to access additional funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but he is subject to approval by both Parliament and the IMF, a process which can likely take longer than desired.
According to daily statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Child Care Zimbabwe, only 1 654 112 million people have received the first dose as of 2 August 2021, with 779 229 thousand fully vaccinated, which is below 12 percent of the total population.
The government began massive testing and vaccination program on February 18 after receiving 200 000 Sinopharm doses and another 1 million Sinovac doses by the end-March this year.
Roll-out at the start of the vaccination drive was slowed down due to a number of factors including social media rumours, myths, misconceptions and safety concerns over the effectiveness of the vaccines.
However, there is still hope for a more positive roll-out for the vaccination as shown by the higher turnout of people seeking to get vaccinated at various medical centres.
The situation has been propelled following the decision by some companies to make vaccination mandatory for all employees. The trends show that other institutions including universities and colleges may take the same route.
Whilst this complements the government’s vaccination drive, the threat of shortages looms as demand rises, thus, making it unlikely that the country will achieve herd immunity by year-end.
Equity Axis News
