Category: #COVID19

EGPAF Helps Government Set-up Long COVID Clinic In Zim

Kuda Pembere

With some Zimbabweans still grappling with Long COVID, Zimbabwe needs support to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 while strengthening its pandemic preparedness and response, a top Ministry of Health and Child Care official said on Wednesday. By Kuda Pembere Addressing a Catalysing COVID-19 Action (CCA) high level stakeholder meeting, Health and Child Care Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Aspect Maunganidze represented by Epidemiology and Disease Control Director Dr Rudo Chikodzore said the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world at a time when most health systems were ill-prepared. The Catalyzing COVID-19 Action (CCA)…

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Zimbabwe Blows ZW$12 Billion To Pay For J&J COVID-19 Vaccines That Were Never Used

Kuda Pembere

DESPITE failing to roll-out the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccines citing cold-chain  issues, the Zimbabwean government reportedly paid an amount to the tune of ZW$12 Billion  for the J&J doses in 2021. With the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) exchange rate of December 2020 stating US$1 to ZWL$82, this would amount to about US$147 million. By Kudakwashe Pembere The COVID-19 vaccination drive in Zimbabwe commenced in February 2021 to contain the disease. However, Dr Agnes Mahomva who was the COVID-19 Coordinator in the Office of the President and Cabinet…

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When Facts Are Not Enough: COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes Widening Gaps In Vaccine Confidence

Michael Gwarisa

“I was vaccinated because it was mandatory at work. I had two options, get vaccinated, or go home. I chose the former,” says Theresa Manongwa,* an employee with TelOne, one of Zimbabwe’s leading Telecommunications company. By Michael Gwarisa In July, 2021, TelOne, issued a statement announcing that it would send its unvaccinated staff on forced leave until the country’s COVID-19 situation had subsided. Caught between being sent on forced leave and the prospects of losing her job had the situation persisted, Theresa felt compelled to get her vaccine shots despite…

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Zim Out Of COVID-19 Danger…Authorities Stop Issuing Daily Covid Stats

Healthtimes

The Zimbabwean government believes COVID-19 is no longer a national health threat and should now be treated just like any other diseases such as flu or an ordinary headache. By Kudakwashe Pembere The development follows the recent announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the disease was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Following this declaration by the World Health Organisation, and after a a series of recording between one and Zero COVID cases daily, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), gradually phased…

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Zimbabwe Government Scraps Mandatory Wearing of Masks…Visitors No Longer Require Proof Of Vaccination

Healthtimes

Zimbabwe has officially scrapped most of the COVID-19 mandatory measures such as mask wearing and others following an announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the disease was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. By Staff Reporter In the Statutory Instrument 102 of 2023, the Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantine Chiwenga directed a lift on the mandatory wearing of masks. Further, tourists are no longer mandated to produce COVID-19 vaccination certificates nor should they have negative PCR tests at the…

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Media a key ally in promoting health for all- WHO Rep

Michael Gwarisa

WORLD Health Organisation Zimbabwe country Representative, Professor Jean Marie Dangou has emphasized the need for media to collaborate with stakeholders in the healthcare sector in order to create an informed society. By Michael Gwarisa He said this while welcoming health Journalists and members of the Health Communicators Forum (HCF) in Zimbabwe to a Media Science Café on COVID-19 that was held at the WHO Offices in Harare. It is also pleasing to know that there is a group of dedicated health journalists in Zimbabwe. This makes it easier for coordination…

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COVID-19 no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern……WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Michael Gwarisa

FOR the past three years, the world literally came to a halt at the back of a raging COVID-19 pandemic that claimed and infected millions of people. According data, globally, as of 7 May 2023, over 765 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths had been reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO). By Michael Gwarisa Compared to other pandemics that have been experienced in the history of public health, COVID-19 has the least fatalities. For example, HIV and AIDS known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency…

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WHO Declares An End To COVID-19 Global Health Emergency

Healthtimes

The World Health Organization announced on Friday that it was ending the emergency it declared for Covid-19 more than three years ago, a milestone in the fitful emergence from a pandemic that has killed millions of people around the world and upended daily life in previously unimaginable ways. “It is with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” said the W.H.O. director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. But W.H.O. officials warned that the decision to lift the emergency does not signal an end to the pandemic,…

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WHO Tells Countries To Increase Graduation Numbers Of Healthcare Personnel

Michael Gwarisa

In order to curb chronic shortages of health workers in low and middle income countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised all countries to increase graduation of health personnel to reach 8-12% of the active workforce per annum. By Michael Gwarisa The call comes a few weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO)  released an updated WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023, identifying 55 countries including Zimbabwe, as vulnerable for availability of health workers required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal target for universal health coverage…

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New WHO Findings On Possible Links Between COVID-19 And Chinese Sea Food Market Call For Action Against Zoonotic Diseases

Michael Gwarisa

By Dingaan Mithi For many months, there has been speculation on the possible origins of Covid-19. While there is no conclusive proof or evidence as to where exactly the virus originated from, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed the Chinese government, pointing to a laboratory leakage of the virus, a new report by public health experts finds that Covid-19 could have originated in raccoon dogs. On 4 March 2023, scientists discovered accessions posted publicly on the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), a global science initiative…

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