First Covid-19 dose now available for Bulawayo Dr Welcome Mlilo

Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Health Reporter
BULAWAYO residents will now be able to access the first Covid-19 dose which was in short supply following delivery of an additional 5 400 doses of Sinopharm vaccine.

The first dose of Covid-19 vaccine ran out after the province recorded an overwhelming number of members of the public getting inoculated.

The province has taken the lead in heeding the call by President Mnangagwa and medical experts to get as many people as possible inoculated so that the country achieves herd immunity.

This comes at a time when Zimbabwe has been hailed for leading in terms of Covid-19 vaccination.

Zimbabwe is among the few countries that started using the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine in February following a nod from local scientists.
As at 29 May 2021, Zimbabwe had 38 933 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 36 578 recoveries and 1 594 deaths.

To date, a total of 666 786 people has been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The roll-out which started on February 18 was conducted after an all-scientific process by local scientists and experts to ascertain the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine, which was confirmed to be at 79 percent.

In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo provincial medical director Dr Welcome Mlilo said the vaccines had been redistributed to the city as other provinces still have more dozes.

He said the shortages were logistical because whenever one gets their first dose, the ministry sets aside their second one so that it is available after four weeks.

Dr Mlilo said there is no difference between the first and second dose but it was imperative to ensure that whoever got the first jab, would be assured of getting the second.

He said as the country awaits more vaccines, it would have been catastrophic to roll out the first dose to many people and then fail to provide the second jab when the four weeks lapses.

“We have received 5 400 doses of Sinopharm vaccine to help address the shortage we are facing in the province. This will be a temporary solution as we await more vaccines because in Bulawayo, we can vaccinate about 2 000 people daily as more people are now coming in their numbers,” said Dr Mlilo.

“We urge people to be patient as we try to ensure we get more doses and those who are due for their second dose should go get them as we set them aside once they get their first jab.”

Dr Mlilo said Bulawayo has recorded 65 186 first dose inoculations while figures for the second dose are at 45 883.

“So, we also know that some provinces have not exhausted doses that were allocated to them initially and we are engaging the Ministry of Health and Child Care who are working on logistics to get us more vaccines. We encourage members of the public to remain positive as this challenge is being worked on.”

Dr Mlilo also said the global demand for the Sinopharm vaccine shot up considerably following WHO approval.

“Then, India went into a devastating 3rd wave of Covid-19 infections. Both these factors are contributing immensely to our current status with regards to vaccine availability. The ministry is however, seized with resolving the matter.”

Meanwhile, Bulawayo residents have come out in numbers to get their children aged between 9 months and 15 years vaccinated against typhoid which has been detected in Bulawayo, Harare and Gweru.

Last week, the Ministry of Health and Child Care launched the new typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) which will be rolled up to June 4 in schools, hospitals and clinics.

The nationwide programme is being rolled out by health authorities in conjunction with the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry.

Zimbabwe is the third country in the world to make rolling out the new TCV part of its routine immunisation programme.

TCV helps to prevent typhoid fever, which is a life-threatening infection and outbreaks are increasing in the country.

The vaccine is being introduced through a nationwide catch-up vaccination campaign which will integrate vaccines for polio prevention (IPV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) including Vitamin A supplementation into the campaign.

This new vaccine is very effective and will provide protection for at least three years or more with only one dose.

Statistics from the ministry shows that as of Saturday May 29, 2021 about 57 380 children had been vaccinated against typhoid in Bulawayo.

“About 10 492 children have been vaccinated against polio and so far, 4 374 girls have received their first HPV dose while 2 766 have received their second dose. A total of 15 682 children also received Vitamin A in Bulawayo,” said the Ministry. — @thamamoe.

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