…Low turnout for booster shot
Valentine Makufa
Young people in Masvingo province have embraced the Covid-19 vaccination programme by turning out overwhelmingly, Provincial Medical Director (PMD) Dr Amadeus Shamhu has said.
Dr Shamhu said children from the age of 12 to 17 in Masvingo province have been coming out in their numbers for vaccination since the incorporation of the age group as the country seeks to achieve herd immunity.
“We are having a huge turnout of children getting the vaccination. They are coming in their numbers,” said Dr Shamhu.
However, Dr Shamhu bemoaned a poor response to Covid-19 booster shot among those who have already received first and second jabs.
“Few people are coming to get the booster shot. We do not actually know the reasons why people are not getting the booster shot. The turnout is very low,” he said.
Efforts to get comment from Masvingo provincial Covid-19 taskforce team spokesperson Rogers Irimayi bore no fruit as he referred this reporter to the PMD.
“I cannot answer on that matter since you are saying you got the information from the PMD. I am not even aware of the fact that there is a low turnout of people going for the booster shot. You would rather refer back to the PMD, he might be in a better position to shed light on that since he is the one who had already given you that information,” Irimayi said.
The booster shot is the third shot administered to people who would have completed the first two jabs and people who have reached six months after receiving the second jab are legible. The third shot was introduced late last year when the Omicron variant became common though not fatal as its predecessors.
The jab is 90% preventive to Covid-19.
Omicron variant was first discovered at Masvingo Teachers’ College late in 2021 after genomic tests were carried out with more than 157 cases recorded at the tertiary institution of learning.
