Zimbabwe beats SA to the vaccine jab

Zimbabwe receives its first Covid-19 vaccines today when Air Zimbabwe’s only long-haul aircraft, a 30-year-old Boeing 767, touches down at Harare’s international airport.

Inside the aircraft, which the late president Robert Mugabe used as his personal plane in the last years of his life, will be 200,000 doses of Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccines.

If public announcements are executed, Zimbabwe will become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to roll out vaccines as it could begin jabbing health workers at the end of the week.

The vaccine will, according to government statements, “undergo examination by experts for 48 hours” before the vaccines are deployed to “vaccination centres” countrywide.

An additional 600,000 doses are due in Harare early next month.

According to the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper, Zimbabwe’s Medicines Control Authority, MCAZ, has granted “emergency use” for the vaccines and says the Sinopharm product and other vaccines have been examined for several months.

Without explaining its testing regime, the government said that “clinical trials have shown that the Sinopharm vaccine has efficacy levels ranging between 76 to 86%”.

Zimbabwe, paralysed by lockdowns, hyper-inflation and with millions hungry, was so determined to get cracking with vaccinations that a statutory instrument was issued which exempted Air Zimbabwe’s flight deck crew from their six months proficiency checks which did not take place because of “flight restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

It is not clear whether this exemption was cleared with aviation authorities in countries the 767 flies over to and from Beijing.

The 767 left Harare mid Saturday morning and flew via Singapore to Beijing for vaccination cargo pick up.

Shingai Gwatidzo, spokesman for the medicines regulator, said: “In view of the global pandemic, MCAZ, like most regulatory authorities, established a system for Emergency Use Authorisation, EUA, of Covid-19 vaccines.

“This route allows regulatory agencies to conduct benefit-risk assessment of vaccines that have undergone phase I and II clinical trials and have started phase III studies, but are already showing favourable safety and efficacy in preventing Covid-19.

“Overall a target timeline of five days has been set.”

According to the vaccination rollout schedule released in Zimbabwe last week, front line health workers, ports of entry officials and funeral parlour workers will be among the first to be vaccinated. Immunisation of the chronically ill, the elderly, prisoners and those living in refugee camps and the staff at all schools will follow.

Zimbabwe says it has begun training nursing staff to administer jabs around the country.

More than 65% of Zimbabweans live in rural areas.

“The inoculation will take three phases, which are the demographic data collection, blood test for antibodies and swab sample will be required to determine the potency and the vaccination. The delicate process is being done to monitor and track
any side-effects.

“The jabs will be administered at fixed facilities and mobile outreaches,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s public health care system is on its knees, and many medical staffers have regularly been on strike since last year.

Its clinics around the country seldom have medications. Many poor people seek medical help from Catholic hospitals in some rural areas.

Zimbabwe’s main private sector medical aid, Cimas, has about 240 000 members and has not yet stated whether it will be part of the government’s free vaccination programme.

Zimbabwe says it will start this week to produce barcoded Covid-19 clearance certificates.

Several people were arrested for creating false certificates, some of which were exposed at the Beitbridge Border post during the last Christmas rush.

Zimbabwe had 35 104 infections and 1 398 deaths, but this could be understated because most virus tests cost about $60 (about R872).

– news@citizen.co.za

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