Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

Zimbabwe is recording a low uptake of Covid 19 vaccines among its citizens, with only 21.9% of its population fully vaccinated since the onset of the roll out program.

This came out of the Post Cabinet briefing which was held yesterday where it was revealed that a total of 1 894 780 people had received the second dose, while 2 856 955 had received the first dose.

“This translates to a national coverage of 33.4% and 21.9% for the first and second doses, respectively. Cabinet is concerned about the low uptake of the vaccine in Mashonaland Central and Chitungwiza Town and every effort is being made to encourage citizens to be vaccinated as this is for the good of us all,” reads the statement.

The development comes after the country has procured 10 860 000 doses of vaccine to date, with more vaccine on its way into the country.

Zimbabwe is targeting to vaccinate 60% of its population for the country to return to normalcy.

But the slow uptake of the jabs means the country may take longer than anticipated to reach its heard immunity target.

What is causing the low uptake?

There are various factors that are discouraging people to get vaccinated and these include lack of confidence on the jabs, complacency, constraints and calculations by citizens according to a small survey we conducted in Harare.

From street interview, we gathered that a significant number of unvaccinated citizens have no confidence and trust in the vaccine’s efficacy and safety. They also have queries on health services offering them, and the policy makers deciding on their rollout.

Some people we approached are being complacent because they they do not take the Covid 19 disease itself to be a serious risk to their health.

Others calculate weather the benefits of the Covid 19 vaccine are sufficient to convince them to be jabbed or not, while some find it difficult to access areas where jabs are being administered.

However, government as assured the nation that It will do all it can to make sure that more people are vaccinated.