BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Forty two percent of people targeted for Covid-19 vaccination in Matabeleland North have been inoculated, the second highest percentage in Zimbabwe, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said.

Ncube told the ongoing pre-budget seminar for parliamentarians in Victoria Falls that based on October 19 figures, only Bulawayo had higher vaccination rates than Matabeleland North.

“As at 17 October 2021, about 3.2 million first doses had been administered, while 2.5 million people had received their second, “Ncube said.

“The leading provinces are Bulawayo and Matabeleland North at 47.7% and 42.4%, respectively.”

The government is targeting to vaccinate 400 000 people in Matabeleland North to reach herd immunity.

Chitungwiza, Matabeleland South and Mashonaland Central have the lowest Covid-19 vaccines uptake, Ncube said.

As of Saturday, Matabeleland North had 195 965 people who have been fully vaccinated while 255 137 had received their first dose.

The province’s health officials say they have come up with strategies to create demand for vaccines that include moving around rural schools targeting villagers, who live far away from district hospitals and clinics, especially in Nkayi and Binga.

Ncube said at national level, an average of 37.9 percent of people had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of October 17, and 29.1 percent were fully vaccinated.

He said his ministry would ensure that there were enough vaccines for every eligible Zimbabwean.

“To mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, government is utilising the budget surplus of US$100 million from the previous year to procure vaccines to save lives and livelihoods,” he said.

“At the end of September 2021, government had spent about US$127 million towards procurement of almost 16.2 million vaccines and 16.2 million syringes.”

The target is to reach 60% herd immunity, which translates to 10 million people, he said.

“Mobilisation of additional resources is underway to ensure that the target population is fully vaccinated,” Ncube added.

“Government also acknowledges the support from development partners to complement efforts in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“By end of September, the country had received US$137.6 million and 1 085 000 vaccines from the Development Partners to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.”

He said the investment in the vaccination drive had put Zimbabwe among the best performing countries in Africa in combating the disease.

“As at 18 October 2021, the country was on eighth place in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of vaccination rate at 21.47%, with Seychelles at 81%, followed by Mauritius (69%), Cape Verde (51%), Cape Verde (51%), Sao Tome and Principe (33.95%), South Africa (23%), Rwanda (22%) and Botswana (22%), in that order, “Ncube said.

“In addition to resources spent on procurement of vaccines, government has also spent more than $38 billion towards the containment of the pandemic as at 20 August in Covid-19 allowances, construction of quarantine centres and handling of vaccines among other roles. “