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THE fear and confusion surrounding the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China and brought into the country this week reflects the failure by government to relay information to the citizens. Health practitioners, teachers and trade unionists have expressed fears over being used as guinea pigs to prove the efficacy of the vaccine amid reports that it had resulted in complications in some countries it has been rolled out. Among some of the concerns, the drug has not been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), but is still undergoing tests and the highest efficacy rate it has had is 75% compared to other drugs that are now in wide use, AstraZeneca, Modena, Pfizer, the Russian Sputnik 5 which have had higher efficacy rates. Suddenly, the Sinopharm drug received amid much pomp and fanfare, is now presenting more headaches for government than solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc in the country, claiming more than 1 400 lives since March last year. Government can only blame itself for the dearth of information around the Chinese vaccine. Comments by the head of monitoring and evaluation in the Health and Child Care ministry, Robert Mudyiradima, which circulated widely on social media, to the effect that they still didn’t have full knowledge of the vaccine have worsened the uncertainty over its safety. A well-organised and detailed information campaign about the drug will go a long way in allaying fears over the safety of the vaccine. This should include the public vaccination of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his two deputies Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi. Government’s messaging deficit has long been its Achilles heel and could severely hamper its efforts to curb the pandemic. Its pathetic messaging and double standards have not only been limited to the Sinopharm vaccine. Doesn't it raise eyebrows that while government is preaching the need to limit movement of people and public gatherings, the ruling Zanu PF party continues to hold face-to-face meetings? The glaring double standards were also laid bare when First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa ignored her husband’s order to avoid public gatherings by organising a cooking contest in Chinhoyi in blatant defiance of the national lockdown regulations. That this was held a day after government warned citizens to brace for more restrictions in light of the highly fatal and fast-spreading South African variant, not only exhibits absence of leadership, but is also an insult to the country’s citizens. With such deplorable messaging, the government can forget about successfully curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.
A November 26 letter from the presidency asked the head of Uganda's national drug authority to 'work out a mechanism' to clear the importation of the vaccines.
China has about five COVID-19 vaccine candidates at different levels of trials. It was not clear what vaccine was being imported into Uganda.
One of the frontrunners is the Sinopharm vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
On Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates said the vaccine has 86% efficacy, citing an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials.
China has used the drug to vaccinate up to a million people under its emergency use program.
On Tuesday, Morocco said it was ordering up to 10 million doses of the vaccine.
Record cases
Uganda on Monday registered 701 new COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever daily increase, bringing its national count to 23,200.
The new cases were out of the 5,578 samples tested for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said in a statement.
Tuesday's tally was 606, the second-highest ever number of new infections, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the east African country to 23,860.
Health authorities have blamed ongoing election campaigns which have drawn huge crowds for the rise in infections.
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Africa needs to 'triple its testing', 'US picks companies to develop vaccine' - International Covid-19 news
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday warned that the coronavirus could further weaken sub-Saharan Africa's ability to adapt to climate change, as measures to contain the pandemic stretch limited resources.
Africa needs to triple its coronavirus testing in the coming months \"to move ahead of the curve\" as more countries ease lockdown measures, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Story by Jeanette Chabalala
Cabinet to appeal judgment declaring lockdown regulations for levels 3 and 4 invalid, confident of another outcome
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said the decision was taken after advice from legal experts.
By Lizeka Tandwa
RECAP | State of Disaster extended, Cabinet to appeal High Court's lockdown regulations judgment
The ruling by Judge Norman Davis that regulations for Level 3 and 4 of the lockdown were unconstitutional and invalid will be taken on appeal, government has decided.
Why lockdown judgment opens up the possibility for more lawsuits against government
In his judgment, handed down on Tuesday, Judge Norman Davis found that many of the promulgated regulations for Level 3 and 4 of the lockdown were not rationally connected to the objectives of slowing the rate of infection or limiting the spread of the virus.
Fita submitted on Wednesday that the court had acted "too benevolently" in siding with government's seasoning for enforcing the cigarette ban.
HEALTH experts and civil society organisations have warned of a possible spike in COVID-19 cases due to reckless behaviour by citizens who are moving around without masks and ignoring social distancing regulations.
Since Monday, Bulawayo experienced an influx of people in the city centre as police removed roadblocks which helped restrict movement and enforce wearing of face masks.
While it has been easier for the urban populace to adhere to lockdown regulations, rural communities are going out in their large numbers to give a send-off to their departed and in most instances failing to exercise social distancing and wearing masks,” the trust said in a report on Tuesday.
Community advocacy action team members who also attended the funeral expressed concern over the limited understanding of the need to adhere to the COVID-19 precautionary regulations.
They observed that few people were wearing face masks and social distancing was not being practised at the funeral.”
South Africa will ease the Covid-19 lockdown from level four to level three beginning from June 1, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday amid a surge in confirmed cases.
Level three will allow the opening of the economy and the removal of a number of restrictions on the movement of people, while significantly expanding and intensifying the public health interventions, said Ramaphosa.
President Ramaphosa said the decision was based on wide consultations with various stakeholders across the country and guided by advice from the World Health Organisation and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even as the country moves to alert level three, it is important that South Africans should be aware that there are a few parts of the country where the disease is concentrated and infections continue to rise, the president said.
By Sunday, South Africa has recorded 22,583 confirmed Covid-19 cases, up by 1,240 from Saturday, the highest daily surge since March 5 when the country reported its first case.
