Veeslee Mhepo
While the government is at pains to
explain the efficacy and effectiveness of the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac
Covid-19 vaccines, the minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube
has joined a band wagon of government officials in trying to convince the
nation to get vaccinated.
Speaking at the Chombwe pfumvudza
demonstration field day programme on Saturday in Chivi, Ncube said the Covid-19
vaccines were very safe saying he actually got his second dose of the vaccine
and was still lucid.
Though Ncube could not disclose which
jab he took, he said Zimbabweans should embrace vaccination to save themselves
from Covid-19.
“Covid-19 is real and it kills. We are
lucky as a country that we have begun a vaccination rollout programme and it is
my plea to the nation that you get vaccinated.
“The vaccines we are getting from China
are very safe and people should take them without any hesitation.
“I have actually taken my second dose
of the vaccine and I am feeling ok. We have to get our people vaccinated,” said
Ncube.
He dismissed speculations and
misinformation surrounding the Chinese vaccine saying the government would
never expose its people to risk and danger by passing an unverified product.
“There has been a lot of negative
information on the vaccine from different social media platforms and its time people understand
that we can never do anything unprofessional to risk people’s lives, the
vaccine is safe and I assure
everyone that it is the only way
to fight this pandemic,’’ said Ncube.
He said Zimbabwe would be receiving
about a million doses of Covid-19 vaccines monthly to ensure that a huge
population gets vaccinated.
Speaking at the same event, Minister of
State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said
Masvingo expects to receive another consignment of Covid-19 vaccines after
using up the first batch of 22 000 which was enough to vaccinate 11 000 people.
