ACTING President Constantino Chiwenga has extended the country’s level two Covid-19 lockdown period by a further two weeks.
This was revealed by Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa during a press briefing in Harare Tuesday.
The last two weeks have seen a reduction in the number of cases of covid-19 which has resulted in the country recording an average of 45 new cases per day and an average of one death per day.
“This indicates that the lockdown in public health measures currently in place are effective in controlling the transmission of the virus. In this regard, the level 2 national lockdown is hereby extended for another two weeks by the acting President of Zimbabwe, Constantino Chiwenga,” Mutsvangwa said.
She added: “Globally and nationally, public health discussions have been on-going regarding extending vaccination to children and other special groups such as breastfeeding mothers, based on the available scientific data in line with medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe guidance, the specialist pediatricians have recommended the vaccination of the 16 to years age group with the Sinovac covid -19 vaccine.”
“The protocol for the younger age groups is still under consideration. The public is hereby advised that the Covid-19 vaccination for the 16 to 17 years age group has been approved. All the provinces, secondary schools, colleges, universities, and vaccination centers are hereby required to commence the vaccination campaign of this age group with immediate effect. For the avoidance of doubt the only vaccine type eligible for this age group is the Sinovac covid-19 vaccine,” she said.
