The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
THE country should continue to adhere to public health measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 as the festive season approaches, an expert has said.
This comes as three Covid-19 deaths were registered on Friday, while 31 hospital admissions were recorded countrywide.
Chief coordinator of the national response to Covid-19 in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva, said the need for continued vigilance cannot be overemphasised.
“To date, we have thrown in all the measures that are needed to curb the pandemic, so what is now needed is adherence. We are particularly asking everyone to ensure that they are vaccinated. There are little spikes that have been observed in South Africa and here in Zimbabwe, and if one is not vaccinated, risks of being severely ill are high.”
Dr Mahomva said the country has not yet reached the set target of 80 percent herd immunity, indicating that people need to continue to get vaccinated.
“In terms of coverage, we are still at 58 percent for the first dose. I am, however, happy to say ours is among the highest if we compare ourselves with other resource-limited countries. It means we are doing so well as a nation, but it is up to every individual to get vaccinated because national figures do not protect individuals.”
Speaking at Tuesday’s post-Cabinet briefing, acting Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza said the Government had tightened measures in light of the marginal increase in Covid-19 cases.
“The country’s Covid-19 pandemic response is on track. However, in view of small increase in cases, Cabinet has resolved that all provinces include the Covid-19 activities in the second round of poliomyelitis vaccination and that provinces continue strengthening community engagement on all Covid-19 public health and social measures in order to address the ‘Covid-19 fatigue’ being observed in most communities.”
As of November, a total of 6 561 513 had received their first dose, while 4 930 525 second doses had been administered.
Also, 1 215 375 had received the third dose.
