Zimbabwe to receive COVID-19 doses from China

The African country has reportedly obtained up to 200,000 vials of Covid-19 vaccines from China. According to its president, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe will start administering the vaccine in the coming weeks. He made the announcement via his Twitter page. 

"The first batch of vaccines for Zimbabwe has been successfully delivered. We start vaccinating Zimbabweans this week! The faster our country is protected against this virus, the faster Zimbabwe's economy can flourish," the tweet read.  

The vaccines are a gift from China 

Earlier this week, Zimbabwe’s health Ministry released a tweet that said the vaccines were generously donated by China. Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of information, said more COVID-19 doses from China will be available in the coming months. The exact amount of dozes that will be sent in March was not specified. 

The group that received the vaccines from the airport was made up of Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, and the finance minister. The government has assured the public that its nurses and doctors will be the first to be inoculated against the disease. 

The Vice president described the vaccines as a timely donation 

In a statement to the press, the vice president of Zimbabwe said the vaccines will go a long way in reducing the impact of the coronavirus on the country and its citizens. The country is currently planning to purchase additional doses of the vaccine, and it has reportedly set aside $100 million for its coronavirus fund. Zimbabwe plans to inoculate up to 60% of its citizens, and it is currently in talks with Russia and India to procure more doses.

More African countries are purchasing and acquiring vaccine doses. Senegal recently paid China $3.7 million for doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. To help more African countries access vaccines, the African Union has reportedly acquired about 670million doses to be shared among African countries.