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Low Covid-19 vaccine uptake- Masvingo goes dark on daily updates

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Low Covid-19 vaccine uptake- Masvingo goes dark on daily updates

 

Upenyu Chaota

Public
perception on the donated Chinese SinoPharm Covid-19 vaccine remains on the
negative with Masvingo province reportedly recording low numbers of frontline
workers volunteering to be jabbed.

Masvingo
received a total of 22 000 doses of the vaccine enough to vaccinate 11 000
frontline workers.

The province
is now in the second week of the vaccination programme and sources say the
number of people inoculated to date is worrying.

Masvingo
began vaccinating the frontline workers on Monday, February 22 and by February
28, a total of 1 938 had been vaccinated in all the 7 districts.

Sources
within the Covid-19 provincial taskforce told TellZim News that the Provincial
Medical Director (PMD), Dr Amadeus Shamhu, ordered an end to the daily updates
of the vaccination owing to the low turnout.

Dr
Shamhu has not been forthcoming with the media since the outbreak of the
Covid-19 pandemic in the country and has proven difficult to get a hold of on
all related matters.

The
last vaccine roll up updates were released on Day 6, February 27 and no update
has been given to members of the public to date.

Dr
Shamhu could not be drawn into comment as his mobile went unanswered and could
not respond the questions send to him on WhatsApp though he blue ticked the
message.

A Covid-19
provincial taskforce member who spoke to TellZim News on condition of anonymity
said he was surprised that the PMD ordered the point person, who was designated
to collate and tabulate the information from districts and distribute it to the
public, to stop sharing the data.

The
taskforce member said that a lot needs to be done to educate people about the
vaccine saying the statistics of the vaccine uptake was worrying.

“The
statistics of the vaccine rollout programme was shared on daily basis. The PMD
as a member of the provincial Covid-19 taskforce was in charge of that and
there was a person who was designated to do the collating and tabulation of the
data under the supervision of the PMD.

“The
data was presented for only six days and all of a sudden it stopped. This is
because the numbers are very low and publishing the statistics would do more
harm than good.

“I went
to inquire from the point person and he told me that he was ordered to stop
reporting the data on the orders of the PMD.

“I
phoned the PMD and he did not take my calls. I send him WhatsApp messages and
he saw them but he never responded. As a taskforce we agreed that information
should be made public so that decisions will not be made based on speculations.

“The
public is in the dark as to how the vaccination roll out programme is going and
how many people have been vaccinated to date,” said the taskforce member.

The
last provincial update which was given on Day 6 on February 27 shows that a cumulative
total of 1 938 frontline workers had been vaccinated with Bikita recording 278,
Chiredzi 488, Chivi 216, Gutu 202, Masvingo 663, Mwenezi 126 and Zaka 68.

As of
Day 6, Zaka district had the lowest numbers of vaccinations standing at 68
while on February 27, only 4 people were vaccinated by the four groups of teams
dispatched to cover the whole district.

Minister
of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, who chairs the provincial
Covid-19 taskforce, was vaccinated on Day 4 of the vaccination rollout
programme and called on all frontline workers to embrace the first phase which
has been exclusively designated to them.

Deputy
minister of Defense and War Veterans Affairs and Zanu PF
national political commissar Victor Matemadanda was also vaccinated in Masvingo
district on Day 4.

Many
Zimbabweans say that the government has not provided enough information on the
SinoPharm vaccine.

Christian College head Muresherwa attains PhD in Education

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Christian College head Muresherwa attains PhD in Education
Dr  Edson Muresherwa

 …
‘pupils should make names out of teachers, not teachers out of pupils’

Star Matsongoni                                 

Masvingo
Christian College school head Edson Muresherwa has graduated
with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Education specializing in
curriculum issues, becoming one of the few school heads to achieve the feat.

Over
the past several months, Muresherwa had been studying with the University of
Free State which is in South Africa.

Muresherwa’s
research topic was ‘Challenges and opportunities to instructional leadership in
inclusive secondary schools of Zimbabwe’.

In
his thesis, Muresherwa argues that education should serve the interest of the
child not the interest of educational leaders.

In
this understanding, the child should create and make a name out of the
educational leaders not educational leaders creating a name out of children.

He
argues that people do not understand the meaning of inclusive education, a
topic they tend to reductively confuse with disability-inclusive education.

“People
do not fully understand the concept of inclusive education. You find that a
school enrols only pupils with 5 units at grade seven and they make those
pupils attain ‘A’s at ordinary level. The idea should rather be enrolling even
those with 25 units and more and nurture them until they are good enough to
attain similar results at ordinary level,” said Muresherwa

He
also asserts that intelligence could not logically be measured solely on the
basis of academic capability.

“We
are governed by the liberal thinking where we emphasize on marketization of
education and competition.  The idea
should be each and every child should come to school and should be exposed to
the curriculum and they will find their way and prepare them for the
future,” said Muresherwa.

Muresherwa
is also a holder of a Master’s degree in Educational Management, Master of
Science degree in Human Resources Management, Bachelor of Education degree in
Geography, Bachelor of Commerce degree in Human Resource Management, Diploma in
Human Resource Management and Diploma in Training Management.

Murersherwa
said he was now focusing on academic publications.

“For
now, I will be working on my publications as I have been already accepted by
the Journal of Whole Schooling,” said Muresherwa

He
started his teaching journey in 1991 at Mukanga in Bikita where he worked for
19 years before moving to Masvingo Christian College he is currently based.

Mother crashes 1-year-old baby to death

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Mother crashes 1-year-old baby to death

 Colleen Chitsa

NGUNDU –The community here is
struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of a one-year-old baby who
was smashed to death by her own mother inside a kitchen hut.

Masvingo
provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhehwa confirmed the
incident saying Leina Hundivenga (26) from Joromiya village under Chief Shindi
in Chivi was brought back to her parents’ home on February 20, 2021 by her
husband Munyaradzi Tsikai due to prolonged illness of severe headache.

On
February 22, 2021 at around 1400 hours, Hundivenga was breastfeeding her
one-year-old son David Tsikai while chatting with her other 13-year-old child
outside their kitchen.

Hundivenga
then took her one-year-old baby with her inside the kitchen and locked the door.

The
13-year-old juvenile suddenly heard a strange noise of something being crushed
in the kitchen before seeing Tsikai lying in a pool of blood.

The
juvenile rushed to call Hundivenga’s mother Dorika Chikwirira (61) who was
washing the dishes outside and she hurriedly broke in the house and took the
baby who was motionless with no sign of life.

Hundivenga
started running around the house in a disorderly manner, showing signs of
hallucinations.

The
neighbors were alerted about her strange behavior and they caught and tied her
up.

Chikwirira
took the baby to Shindi Clinic at Neshuro where he passed on at around
2200hours on the same day.

A report
was made at the Neshuro Police Station and Hundivenga was arrested.

Dhehwa
advised members of the public to take their mentally challenged relatives to
the hospitals and to make sure that they are closely monitored to avoid putting
others in danger.

Victoria Ranch road construction to commence in April

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Victoria Ranch road construction to commence in April
Wellington Mahwende

 Brighton
Chiseva

MASVINGO
– The recent rains received in Masvingo
have caused a huge damage to roads in the high density suburb of Victoria Ranch
rendering the majority of them unusable causing an outcry amongst motorists and
residents.

Remainder of Victoria Ranch Consortium
chairperson, Wellington Mahwende said they were worried by the deplorable state
of the roads and said plans were underway to rehabilitate the roads starting in
April this year.

Mahwende said they were sending a
tender invitation for the construction of roads and said works are expected to
begin at the end of the rain season.

“Our roads are in a sorry state and
currently we cannot do any regular maintenance like grading because of the
rains but once the surface dries we will put a grader to do maintenance,” said
Mahwende.

Mahwende, who is also one of the chief
land developers in Victoria Ranch, said they were in the process of looking for
a contactor to service the roads by April.

“We are putting an advert calling for
tenders to construct standard roads in the suburb and construction should start
as soon as possible. We hope by April we would have put everything in place to
start the construction,” said Mahwende.

He said contrary to grapevine
information, people in Victoria Ranch had not paid for road construction fees but
were going to be engaged once a suitable contractor had been found.

“Many people believe that we have
charged our people for roads but we haven’t. We are going to do so when we find
a suitable contractor and residents will be paying directly to the contactor so
that there won’t be cases of misappropriation of funds.”
said Mahwende

He also said the Remainder of Victoria
Ranch Consortium had 14 housing cooperatives which were selling stands to their
clients but in terms of services they unite and do it together for it is
difficult for each and every cooperative to do roads or sewer works on its own.

“After getting quotations from the
contractors, we will then divide the amount with the number of households we
have and each household will pay towards the service.

“We did the same process when we laid
the ground work for water connections and we had a standing agreement with the
city council to supply water for at least three days a week.

“The agreement has unfortunately
faulted owing to the water challenges in the city,” said Mahwende.

He said they had done about 50 percent
of the sewer system in the area but could not continue with it because they
could not test if the gradient will be able to push the sewer to the main line
and were waiting for the city council to do the test for them before they
continue.

“We stopped the sewer project midway because
we are waiting for the trunk sewer to be completed.

“We don’t know if the sewer will have
pressure to flow to the main sewer line so we engaged city council and they
said they have an alternative way of testing and once that has been done, we
will continue because the material is already there,” said Mahwende.

Touts fight for US$2, arrested and fined $5 000

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Touts fight for US$2, arrested and fined $5 000

 Veeslee
Mhepo

MASVINGO- Two touts who ply their trade at
Old Croco Motors, were last week dragged to court after they were arrested
whilst fighting over unfair allocation of US$2 which they had got from a
motorist.

Trust Chingovo and Garaipano
Ziurayi appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Consepter Ngwerume on February 26,
2021 facing three counts of public fighting, touting and unnecessary movement during
lockdown as defined in Section 4 (a) of the SI 83 /20 and violation of lockdown
regulations.

The two who pleaded
guilty to unnecessary movement and denied the other two counts of public
fighting and touting were sentenced to 160 days imprisonment, which were wholly
suspended on condition that they pay $5 000 fine.

It was the state’s case
that on February 24, 2021, at around 1630 hours the duo were fighting over the
sharing of money they had gained from touting at Old Croco Motors.

The fight attracted the
attention of police officers on patrol who arrested the duo before asking for
lockdown movement exemption letters which they failed to produce.

Heather
Mhlanga represented the state.

Masvingo journalists get Covid-19 jab

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Masvingo journalists get Covid-19 jab
Journalist: George Maponga receiving the Jab

 Veeslee
Mhepo

Journalists from different media stables
in Masvingo received their first jab of the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine at
Benjamin Burombo building last week.

Masvingo received a total of 22 000
doses for the vaccination of 11 000 frontline workers who include journalists.

Herald, ZBC, The Mirror, Masvingo Star,
TellZim, Hevoi FM and many freelance reporters were in line to get a shot at
the vaccine.

Speaking to TellZim News days after getting
his first jab, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) Masvingo chairperson George
Maponga, who is also the Herald Masvingo Bureau Chief, said contrary to some unfound
reports of the vaccine having side effects, he hasn’t developed any negative
symptoms.

“I haven’t felt any side effects from the
time I was inoculated. We are happy that the journalists are leading from the
front in taking the jab.

“The vaccine will make journalists
report from an informed and first-hand experience since they have received the
vaccine.

”The responsibility of our health
begins with us and getting vaccinated is the only chance we have to defeat this
raging virus. I want to appeal to my media colleagues to consider getting
vaccinated. It is our duty to inform and educate the public so we should inform
from experience”, said Maponga.

Media Institute for Southern Africa
(MISA) Masvingo chairperson, Passmore Kuzipa concurred with Maponga saying journalists
should take the vaccine to insulate themselves against the menacing virus.

“We are happy that we were considered
on the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccine roll out programme.

“Journalists, being frontline workers,
should make sure that they take the jab so that they are protected from the
virus. I am happy to report that since the outbreak of the pandemic, no
journalist has been reported to have tested positive for Covid-19.

“The taking of the vaccine should be
encouraged on all frontline health workers,” said Kuzipa.

The Chinese vaccine has been received
with mixed feelings and many conspiracies have been doing rounds in the
mainstream and online media platforms.

Tips on cattle diseases

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Tips on cattle diseases
Kudakwashe Runyowa

By Kudakwashe Runyowa

Due
to the excessive rains that the country has received this season, there is a
lot of vegetation in the grazing lands and as a result, ticks are rife.

Most
diseases that affect cattle are transmitted by ticks and these are called tick-borne
diseases and famers are advised to dip their cattle regularly.

In
most areas, the weekly dipping routine in the community dip tanks have been
abandoned because of lack of chemicals and hence, a number of farmers are
resorting to the use of knap sack sprays for tick control.

The
most common diseases affecting cattle is Theileria and is commonly known as
January disease. More than 500 cattle have been reported dead in the province
by the Veterinary Department in Masvingo and a number are not recorded.

It
is also known as bovine anaemia and its signs are associated with lack of
appetite, weak and lag behind others, and if forced to move they stagger and
gasp for breath and yellow gums.

The
most common treatment is the Oxytetracycline family medicine which includes Butachem,
Hitet, Limoxin, Alamycin and Teramycin.

Bovine
Babesiosis commonly known as Red Water is another common tick-borne disease in
cattle. It is mostly noticeable after seven to 14 days after infection.

Its
symptoms are fever, anaemia, light to dark brown or red urine, poor appetite,
weakness, dry nose, diarrhoea, dull coat and abortion.

As a
tick-borne disease, it is the best preventive measure is tick control through
spraying and dipping or using tick grease as well as avoiding tick-infested
grazing areas during an outbreak

Imizol
Satchetsa and Imochem 120 can be used for treatment of affected cattle.

Another
disease is Foot Rot which is caused by a bacterium and occurs in all ages of
cattle and most incidences are during wet, humid conditions and in some cases
it is caused by hard ground or walking on stones.

Foot
rot is prevented by minimizing exposure to sharp plant stubbles and hard gravel
and minimizing the time animals spend in wet areas. Cattle pens should be well-drained
and effected animals should be kept in dry areas until healed.

Copper
sulphate and foot dip is recommended and penicillin
medicine can also be administered to affected cattle.

Kudakwashe G. Runyowa is a Branch Extension
Officer at Fivet Masvingo Branch

He is a holder of BSC Hon in Agriculture
(Livestock, Wildlife and Fisheries

He can be contacted on 0776047692 or visit
him at Fivet Masvingo

Urgent rehabilitation needed for Vic Ranch’s muddy roads

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Urgent rehabilitation needed for Vic Ranch’s muddy roads
Car stuck in Mud 

 …as Zupco stops plying access routes

Clayton Shereni

MASVINGO –
While the blame game between central government and local authorities across
the country over the state of roads continues, the critically bad road situation
in Victoria Ranch continues to deteriorate without any action to put an end to
this mess.

The
majority of land barons in the area are well known Zanu PF politicians who have
amassed large wealth by taking huge acres of state land and subdividing it for
sale to desperate home seekers.

The
housing stands are sold in foreign currency but the land barons have never
bothered to service the roads in the area.

All
roads in the area are not surfaced meaning that they are more vulnerable to the
force of moving vehicles as well as rainy conditions.

The
current heavy rains which have been received in the area have caused a state of
emergency as motorists get trapped every day in the muddy gravel roads.

Victoria
Ranch Residents Association (VRRA) spokesperson Dereck Chikuni said the dusty
and muddy roads no longer deserved to be called roads as they are hardly
passable.

This
has seen public transport operator Zupco, which is the only utility company
allowed to operate since the lockdown began at the end of March 2020, shunning
the area altogether.

This
has left the commuting public facing huge challenges associated with getting
transport in and out of the suburb.

“There
are no roads in Vic Ranch to talk about because they don’t deserve to be called
roads. We raised that issue on numerous occasions and they told us to wait for
the rainy season to end. Transport operators no longer ply our routes. Masvingo
City Council has also refused to collect garbage here for many reasons including
the bad state of the roads,” said Chikuni.

Pools
of muddy water are all over the suburbs’ roads, with motorists needing to
carefully negotiate their way past these heavily potholed roads. However, land
barons have continuously ignored calls to rehabilitate these roads although
they continue to collect thousands of dollars from land sales.

Contacted
for comment, one of the land barons who is Zanu PF Cllr for Masvingo Urban Ward
6 and Masvingo City deputy mayor, Wellington Mahwende said they could not
repair the roads until the rainy season was over.

“Construction
of the roads is still underway and we will repair the roads for residents but
they have to wait for the rainy season to end. If we try to use a grader now,
it will get stuck in the muddy roads so we want to avoid a situation where we
redo the same thing over and over again,” said Mahwende.

Zupco
commuter omnibuses and buses have ditched the Town-Vic Ranch route saying it
was inaccessible.

Commuters
are left with no option but to walk from Gomba Bhopping Centre in Runyararo
West suburb as the minibuses do not go further than that.

Last
week the government declared all countries major highways a state of disaster
due to excessive rains which have been received.

The
rains are affecting the country’s old and poorly-maintained road infrastructure
which is not sufficient to service a growing vehicle population even in drier
seasons.

The
Metrological Services Department recently projected a prolonged wet spell which
may last up until end of March, meaning residents of Victoria Ranch will need
to cope with the almost unbearable challenges of lack of public transportation.

Well done VP Mohadi

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Well done VP Mohadi

Ichasvika
nguva yekuti kana usina kubaiwa hauverengi Mapombi kkkkk. What a week it has
been. People are being jabbed and others fear the unknown but I do not blame
both parties. Vanoda kubaiwa baiwai and vasingadi please regai. This
vaccination roll out is not compulsory but voluntary but the million dollar
question is how voluntary is voluntary? There is nothing voluntary about it at
all. President Dambudzo, a real dambudzo as his name suggests, let the cat out
of the bag when he said there will come a time when those who refuse
vaccination would not be allowed to access some services like getting jobs or
boarding Zupco buses. Where is the voluntary in all this nhai Cde President?
You are already threatening our people.

Besides,
keep your jobs because isu vana Mapombi takutosvika retirement age tisina kana
kumbobata pay slip. Imagine the hopes and dreams I had growing up ndichiti
pandinosvika 25 kkkk I think nyaya yacho maibata. You will not force us to be
vaccinated with those petty threats Cde President. Keep your Zupcos and we will
keep our Zumbani and Mufandichimuka. By the way, was ED jabbed? The President
should have been the first person to take the Chinese vaccine so that we would
have confidence in it. ED does not even trust this vaccine that is why we have
not heard anything about him getting vaccinated. So unoda kuti mwana waani
abaiwe iwe usina. Please dear readers let us be careful before we make
decisions which have a bearing on how we live the rest of our lives. We all
live miserable lives after all saka kusiri kufa ndekupi kkkk jekiseni kumunhu.

I hear
our listening President has lifted the lockdown. Mapurisa muriko here uko.
These men and women never repent shuwa. The Chihuri syndrome yanga yatorova on
these so called roadblocks and checkpoints. Yanga yongova torai mari united. Please
Cde President we do not want to see the police on our roads. These guys are
poorly remunerated and corruption is the only way for them to make ends meet.
They made a killing during this lockdown but chingaperi chinoshura. Ndakaona
kamweya kacho kaRigiyoni kanga kaita spill over to the coup boys. Hanzi
ukaravidza chembere muto wegwaya inofira mudziva kkkk. The military was joining
to corruption brigade on these road blocks and our people were being fleeced of
their hard earned money. The Nyanda check point was a cash cow for many
officers. Those who did not buy cars or residential stands vane shavi renhamo
or mari dzakaperera muchihure kkkk.

Chihure
chinogona kusunungura nyika ichi kkkk. Mapombi is not against chihure but my
advice to all men and women out there is that please do so muchihwande because
the moment the cat is let out from the bag you will resign from your friends,
families and jobs. I want to applaud VP Mohadi for taking a bold step and doing
the right thing of resigning from the office of the Vice Presidency? It was the
right thing to do and I hope others will follow the same footsteps. Themba
Mliswa uriko here uko kkkk bhuru reNorton. The precedence set by Mohadi could
be what we have all been waiting for. To be honest I never thought Mohadi would
resign especially considering the kind of boss he has. When the story first
broke out, everyone thought that it was the end of Mohadi but the expected
happen. You know this strategy of deny deny deny has a limit. When Mohadi said
he was being framed and or his voice was cloned, I realized kuti baba iyi
hapana kwairi kuenda.

There
was no voice cloning paya. Mohadi dzaicheka madzimai evanhu and that was a
fact. Some people are joking on social media hanzi the VP chose to resign than
give up on chihure kkkkk. Please dear readers let us not joke about this
serious issue. We are talking about the future of our beloved country. At least
VP Mohadi had the decency to save his face by stepping down. The only mistake
he did was to try and be defensive about this whole issue. We all know that VP
Mohadi has no wife and as a man there comes a time when he craves
kumbotsotsonya. That is normal but trying to be smart nekuti unopfeka magirazi was
the biggest mistake. To think you can take isu vana Mapombi for fools was your
undoing iwe Mohadi. Sometimes the truth sets people free. This public relations
crisis could have been easily dealt with by the truth. Being defensive only
fueled the fire and prompted more digging. Now that VP Mohadi has left office
and have all the time to himself outside public scrutiny, I am sure shavi rese
richapera. To all women out there, my message is be careful. Someone has
decided to give up on the second most important and powerful job in the country
to focus on women. Do not be found wanting. Mapombi akurumai nzeve.

What I
do not understand is the fact that people are on cloud nine over the
resignation of VP Mohadi. Mohadi is a nobody and a political nonentity. Other
than zvechihure zvakazongomukawo izvi, Mohadi was just like Perekedza Mboko
ahhh sorry Phelekezela Mphoko kkkkk. Mphoko was a mountain of a man but
politically he was a nobody just like Mohadi. Zimbabwe can only be liberated if
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga decide to one day tender in their resignations. We won’t
even miss Mohadi much less notice that he is gone. Mohadi saw himself as next
in line to replace ED. What many people fail to realize is that Mohadi is gone
because ED wants him gone. This is politics at play and this is how it always
starts in Zanu PF. Do you honestly believe that VP Mohadi’s calls could be
recorded without the approval of a higher office? He was a setup and
unfortunately he fell for the bait. What happened,
removing zvechihure and stuff, was a serious breach of security and someone
should be seriously worried.

Now all
eyes are on who ED will choose to replace Mohadi. I hear a lot of names being
thrown into the ring but let me tell you something, ED will not do what
everyone is expecting him to do. SK Moyo, Obert Mpofu, Thokozanu Khupe, Oppah
Muchinguri, Sthembiso Nyoni, Valerio Sibanda etc are being hyped to take over
from Mohadi but ED will pull a shocker. ED will not do the obvious. I know all
the people on that list will be lobbying to occupy the second most powerful
office in the country. Has anybody ever thought that ED would decide to finish
this term with just Chiwenga as his deputy? There are a lot of possibilities
here and people are too excited to see the bigger picture. All I can tell you
dear readers is that ED will not make the obvious appointment here. Speculate
however you want but I see a shocker coming our way. Remember the case of
Mphoko. How many of you knew the man? Interesting times lie ahead and ED is in
no hurry. I hear someone saying Mapombi is perfectly poised to take over from
Mohadi. Pakuda isu madzimai apa. Mapombi for VP kkkk. I have said enough regai
zvangu ndione the developments ndakati zete zvangu ndichikanga maputi angu for
lunch. I am happy chitima market will be opening soon and rotten bananas are
coming my way. Mboko imboko.

Editorial Comment: Mandatory vaccination good if options are given

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Editorial Comment: Mandatory vaccination good if options are given

Government has indicated that it may soon resort to mandatory vaccination for citizens as part of the fight against the continued spread of the coronavirus pandemic. At the moment, vaccines are being given to those who want them within the categories of the frontline working staff as determined by the government. It is certain, however, that some front-liners are have serious reservations to the available vaccine which is produced by SinoPharm in China. This is a donated vaccine from a highly-secretive and unaccountable government whose intentions are treated with suspicion by much of the free world. China is best friends with mostly third world countries; often basket case countries ruled by corrupt and despotic governments that are not capable of providing much for their largely destitute citizens. Zimbabwe fits perfectly well into this category of basket case regimes that simply wait for donations even from those with nefarious intents as China is widely suspected. To therefore force citizens of Zimbabwe to be vaccinated or lose their rights and whatever other minuscule privileges they may have without offering them a range of vaccine choices is oppressive. There is no doubt that the SinoPharm is distrusted even by those in government and its various agencies. Our interactions with some state actors has shown that many of them are not opposed to vaccines in general, but are opposed to the donated Chinese vaccine which has reportedly not passed rigorous safety, efficacy and effectiveness trials. Those in the know also say that the Chinese government itself is not using SinoPharm on its citizens but is instead using another vaccine called SinoVac. There is therefore need for government to procure other vaccine types from Western countries so that citizens can have a choice. Zimbabwe has enormous resources that would make such a move affordable but only if national resources are put to good use. The decision to use a new vaccine developed hastily to combat a novel virus is a matter of great risk to one’s health such that extreme caution must be taken, and citizens need to be given a choice.

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