Bulawayo Health Services Director Dr Edwin Sibanda says they are waiting for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to avail the list of eligible children to receive their Covid-19 vaccination.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care recently announced that the vaccination program will be extended to children between the ages of 16 to 17 years.
They will receive the Sinovac vaccine.
CITE visited a number of clinics in the city on Wednesday with officials indicating that they are still waiting for the vaccines to start the vaccination process.
“Plans are ongoing, they are ready, we are waiting for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary education to give us the figures so that we strategise which schools do we start with and when,” said Dr Sibanda.
“We think we are going to follow up mainly the school-based because the majority of that age group are in schools and those who are not in schools we are going to make plans for them.”
He said they are going to put teams to focus on the schools’ vaccination campaign.
“You will also note that we are dealing with people who are 16 to 17 and at law, they are minors so the legalities of vaccinating them, their consent, we are trying to get that part, as soon as that is cleared as well, we think we will go ahead as soon as possible,” said Dr Sibanda.
“As the vaccinating team we are ready even tomorrow but the legalities need to be met, thus the part that we need to be cleared first and if there is going to be any reactions, the Ministry must provide the template of where they are going to sign.”
As of 9 November 2021, 14 581 received their first dose bringing the cumulative figure to 3 393 972 while 7 808 received their second dose bringing the cumulativae figure of those who have been fully vaccinated to 2 661 887.
