The Midlands Province received a batch of 15 000 COVID-19 vaccine doses after Gweru, the provincial capital, was declared a hotspot by the Health and the Child Care Ministry last Thursday.
Besides Gweru, Kwekwe, Gokwe North and Mberengwa are the other districts in Midlands that have also experienced a surge in coronavirus infections in the past few weeks.
Acting Midlands Provincial Director Reginald Mhene told a Midlands provincial COVID-19 task force meeting that they intend to decentralise the vaccination programme to all clinics. He said:
Going forward, our visibility should be felt in all communities. We are going to concentrate on the hotspots so that we curtail the spread of this pandemic.
We want all our clinics to have the vaccines so we decongest main centres. We have noted that the situation on the ground now requires us to up our game.
Speaking at the same meeting, Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Larry Mavima said:
We need to have everybody vaccinated as soon as possible. We are also looking at making sure there is enforcement of measures announced by Government on new lockdown rules.
We need to be strict. We are beginning to see changes on our roads particularly following the ban on inter-city travel.
More than 72 000 people in Midlands have already received their first dose in the province, while 55 000 have received their second shots.