China to provide Zambia Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines

LUSAKA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China has offered to provide Zambia Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines towards the southern African nation's vaccination program, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Minister of Health Jonas Chanda said the Chinese vaccine which was recently approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use was safe and efficacious.

He said in a release that there has been an increased number of people getting the vaccine since the launch of the program last month with 90,916 people vaccinated so far.

"This is clear evidence that Zambians have accepted the COVID-19 vaccination program and discarded the various myths, misinformation and conspiracy theories," he said.

Zambia is currently implementing the first phase of the vaccination program which falls under the COVAX Facility and was mainly targeted at health workers and other people most at risk.

The program is being conducted in a phased manner on a voluntary basis.

Meanwhile, the country's cumulative COVID-19 cases have reached 92,211 following 59 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.