Zimbabwe receives 3rd shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from China

HARARE, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe on Tuesday received its third shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses procured from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The delivery of the vaccines comes at a time when the country is scaling up its national vaccination program as it aims to inoculate at least 10 million citizens.

Zimbabwe has so far authorized the use of four COVID-19 vaccines - China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, Russia's Sputnik V and Covaxin from India.

The country launched the first phase of its vaccination drive on Feb. 18 targeting frontline health workers, journalists, prison officers as well as ports and immigration officials.

Last week Zimbabwe kicked off its second phase of the inoculation program targeting teachers, the clergy, members of the security sector, the elderly, and people with chronic conditions, among other priority groups.

To date, nearly 70,000 people have already received their first shots of either Sinopharm or Sinovac doses from China.

The southern African country is targeting to inoculate at least 60 percent of its population to achieve herd immunity.

To date, Zimbabwe has recorded 36,839 COVID-19 cases, 34,617 recoveries and 1,520 deaths.