Zimbabwe set to receive doses of the covid-19 vaccine from China

Zimbabwe is set to receive a further 800,000 doses of the Covid-19 jab from China, indicating the “excellent relationship” between the two nations and the Asian giant’s willingness to give the southern African state “preferential treatment” amidst a global “stampede” for vaccines.

The announcement was done by the Zimbabwean presidential spokesman George Charamba who is quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

Zimbabwe bought 600,000 of the doses from Chinese firm Sinopharm, while the other 200,000 were a donation, bringing to 400,000 the total donated by the Chinese government, the Herald reported.

Zimbabwe plans to immunize about 10 million people.

The vaccination programme was launched last week, with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga taking the first jab in oder to reassure the public about its safety.

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Meanwhile, the European Union said that Zimbabwe would soon receive 1.152 million doses under Covax, a scheme spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) to make vaccines more accessible to poorer countries.

India has also announced that it will donate 75,000 doses to Zimbabwe.