Zimbabwe saw a record 29 750 people receive their Covid-19 vaccination on Thursday amid rising demand for vaccines.
The demand for vaccines also comes as a response to the surge in new cases being recorded in the country.
Zimbabwe launched its vaccination programme on February 18, 2021, and so far over 840 000 people have received their first vaccine dose although in the start there was some resistance among the population.
According to the daily listing of the Ministry of Health and Child Care, “29 750 people received their first dose on July 8, 2021, bringing cumulative for the first dose to 848 808.”
Another 5 071 received their second dose bringing the cumulative number for people fully vaccinated with second dose to 584 770.
There were 2 156 new cases recorded on the day while the 56 people who died is the highest number of deaths reported for a single day since January 18, 2021, when 60 people died.
Reached for comment, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr John Mangwiro said he could not comment as he was in a meeting.
The public demand also comes as the country launched the Covid-19 mass vaccination programme on Tuesday for informal traders who may contribute to the high numbers as they have been jostling to receive their vaccines as well.
Zimbabwe also received two million more Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine doses, with government officials pledging to ramp up a vaccination campaign under pressure from rising demand for shots.
The latest delivery means the country has purchased 3.2 million vaccines from China’s Sinovac.
The two million doses add on to another 500 000 doses bought earlier from Sinopharm, 500 000 donated Sinopharm doses, 35 000 donated Covaxin doses from India and a donation of 25 000 Sputnik V doses from Russia.
When the vaccines arrived, Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said US$40 million has been spent from the US$100 million shelved from the Covid-19 vaccine procurement.
The country on Wednesday recorded 2 264 new Covid-19 cases from 10 362 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.
As of July 8, 2021, the country has recorded 62 383 cases, with 42 855 recoveries and 2 029 deaths.
