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Govt approved vaccines are safe: medical experts

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By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu

Medical experts have advised that the vaccines that are being administered in the country are safe to use and people should not shun them away.

Zimbabwe in February began the rollout of Sinopharm or Sinovac doses donated from China as well as Russia’s Sputnik V vaccination which it procured recently.

The vaccines has faced a lot of criticism from the people and is still facing resistance as people are still reluctant of getting vaccinated blaming the government for not disseminating information to raise awareness to the people about the vaccine. 

Dr Agnes Mahomva who is the Chief Coordinator of the national response to the Covid -19 pandemic in the office of the President and Cabinet said the vaccine is safe and people should use World Health Organization approved vaccines.

“The jab is safe and people should shun away the notion that the vaccine has side effects and one might die from taking it. The government started preparing against the vaccine since last year and the government is doing all they can to protect us and not kill us so the vaccine is safe. People have reverted to the use of traditional methods as a catalyst in the fight against Covid-19 but it is safe to use scientifically proven methods and the vaccine is one of the methods.

“We are worried with people shunning away the vaccine and preferring the traditional methods which WHO never approved. It is always good to take scientifically proven medicines. All the medicines that come into the country we scrutinize them and this is also happening with the vaccine, so we know that it is safe,” said Dr Mahomva.

Speaking at the same platform, Dr Wilson Mupariwa, a medical practitioner said no side effects from the jab have been recorded.

“These vaccines have the same efficacy, these vaccines have been used out of the country and no side effects have been reported. The vaccine is safe but the myths circulating around the vaccine and the side effects that come after one has been injected need to be shunned away. Everyone over the age of 18 must be vaccinated; some people even say the vaccine causes infertility which is not true. The vaccine is safe and no one is going to die from the vaccine,” said Dr Mupariwa. 

Dr Maxwell Rupfutse, a medical practitioner said the vaccines are safe and should be used to protect people from the virus. Vaccination is for free hence there should not be any challenges.

He added that there should be campaigns to assure people that the vaccine is safe. 

Doctors in the country have expressed that they are worried about the slow pace of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

Statistics gathered so far are not encouraging.

As of Thursday, fewer than 36,000 people had received shots in the first phase of the country’s campaign to vaccinate front line workers like doctors and nurses.

Zimbabwe received a donation of 200,000 vaccine doses from the Chinese company Sinopharm in February and will buy an additional 1.2 million doses from the same country at a preferential price.

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