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Zimbabwe government has barred all unvaccinated officials from attending all national events including the Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations ahead next week as it aims to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus.
Speaking during a post cabinet briefing yesterday, Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said 200 vaccinated people would be allowed to attend the Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations.
“The Defence Forces and Heroes Day celebrations will only be attended by fully vaccinated persons. In addition, attendees will be subjected to testing for COVID-19 at the event. There will be small gatherings this year to mark the Heroes Day commemorations. The 2021 main Heroes Day commemorations, which will be held on August 9 at the National Heroes Acre, will be a hybrid event with a small gathering of 200 people,” Mutsvangwa said.
Mutsvangwa said to ensure the government achieves 60% herd immunity by year end, a number of strategies had been put in place, with the Health Services Board (HSB) recruiting retired nurses to help boost the vaccination programme.
Government is targeting to inoculate about 10 million people, representing 60% of the population, in order to attain herd immunity.
However, only about 700 000 people have received both doses while about 1,6 million have received only one jab since the country rolled out its vaccination programme in February.
“To accelerate the vaccination programme, the payment model of allowances for vaccinators is being reviewed so it can be based on the number of persons vaccinated,” Mutsvangwa said.
“The HSB has written to Treasury seeking concurrence to recruit retired nurses to help boost the vaccination programme.
Cabinet has since barred unvaccinated workers from boarding Public Service Commission (PSC) buses. It has also threatened to scrap allowances for unvaccinated employees.
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