There are enough COVID-19 vaccines for all teachers in Mashonaland West Province, a senior education official has said.
Mashonaland West Province’s education director, Gabriel Mhumha, also urged teachers to take up the vaccine, which is being offered for free to those willing.
Mhumha, a COVID-19 survivor who lost his wife to the pandemic in January, received his jab at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital last Thursday.
He was in the company of deputy provincial education directors, district schools’ inspectors and representatives from Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), Progress Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ). Mhumha said:
The provincial medical director assured us that there are enough doses for us now available in all clinics.
For those teachers with questions about its efficacy and safety, they should approach health officials closer to them rather than relying on social media where there is a lot of distorted information.
While vaccination is voluntary, I wish to encourage my colleagues to take advantage of this phase extended by Government and not wait until there is a scramble for it, which is likely to be the case in the future.
As Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, I would like to encourage all members of the teaching fraternity to take advantage of this phase extended to the teaching family which includes; all the teachers, all non-teaching staff members and the school development committees (SDC).
As of Monday, 5 April 2021, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) had administered the first dose to 123 454 people while 22 056 had received the second jab, nationally.