The Sunday Mail
Last week, the private sector launched its Covid-19 vaccination programme that is meant to complement Government’s ongoing national immunisation exercise. Cimas is the programme’s technical partner and health advisor. Our reporter Emmanuel Kafe spoke to Cimas board chairperson Mrs Emma Fundira to get more insights.
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Q: Can you give us the background to the private sector Covid-19 vaccination programme?
A: The private sector initiative was premised on complementing the Government of Zimbabwe’s vaccination programme, and thereby assisting the Government of Zimbabwe with its goal to reach herd immunity and to curb the effects of Covid-19 faster.
Q: How many vaccines has the private sector procured under the scheme and what are you doing to ensure that there is equitable distribution?
A: This is a launch of the exercise, and procurement is currently still underway. It would be premature to conclude on the numbers that have been secured.
The vaccines will be distributed to the targeted population in accordance with the Government’s priority list.
Q: How much funding has been pooled by various private sector players to procure the vaccines and is there scope for procurement of more jabs?
A: To date, over $230 million has been pooled together and more contributions continue to come in.
The Government has always been committed and supportive of availing more vaccines to the private sector as they also procure for the nation.
Q: Which categories of the population are set to benefit from the scheme?
A: The vaccines will be distributed to the targeted population in accordance with the Government’s priority list.
Q: Vaccine hesitancy has been a major problem since the launch of the national vaccination programme. What will the private sector players do to ensure that this scheme is not affected by apprehension?
A: A lot of this apprehension is simply caused by misinformation, which leads to fear. The business community has already begun vaccine awareness campaigns to educate our fellow citizens and empower them to make informed decisions regarding the choice to get vaccinated.
Q: What challenges are you facing as a private sector in acquiring the vaccines?
A: Procurement is through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and, as such, we are not involved in direct procurement.
Q: Are the vaccines that you have procured adequate to cover the entire working population and how many workers have registered to be vaccinated under your programme?
A: The programme is still in its infancy and has just been launched; therefore, the business community would not be able to give you a clear position until the entire programme is complete.
We want to emphasise that the vaccination programme is a Government programme, and the business community initiative is simply complementing Government to ensure that many people have access to the vaccines.
