By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
A Private Sector COVID-19 Vaccination Programme is targeting at least 60 percent of the population to get vaccinated and halt the rapid spread of the disease by achieving herd immunity, a Cimas official has said.
Speaking at the launch of Private Sector Vaccination programme on Thursday, Cimas chairman Mrs Emma Fundira, said COVID-19 threatened the health of staff and customers, and business operations.
“The Business Member Organisations (BMOs) comprising of Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CMZ), Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT) and the Zimbabwe National Chambers of Commerce (ZNCC) joined forces and resolved to partake in supporting and assisting Government in its efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Cimas was appointed the Programme Technical Partner and Health Advisor for the Private Sector Vaccination Initiative.
“With the aim of assisting the Government of Zimbabwe in its vaccination efforts, the BMOs raised funds to help equip hospitals to provide the necessary medical care for its members and employees,” she said.
She said Cimas Medical Aid supported the fight to minimise the spread of the virus through information campaigns, making use of Ministry of Health and Child Care information to come up with posters and information campaigns.
“We are indeed proud of the cooperation there has been between the private sector and Government in the joint fight against the virus as we spared no efforts. I would like to congratulate the Government on the implementation of successful measures to establish a balance between protecting lives and protecting the economy.
“However, any congratulations must be measured, as we are not out of the woods yet. A second and more serious second wave of the virus occurred in January 2021, bringing home to many more people than before the reality of COVID-19. The number of infections and deaths soared. We lost loved ones,” she said.
She said the development of COVID-19 vaccines offered the world hope to return to some form of normalcy.
“Worldwide there is a drive to vaccinate as many people as possible in the hope that herd immunity may be achieved and so slow down the spread of the virus.
“We must commend our Government for acquiring vaccines at a rapid rate and what remains is to persuade many people to be vaccinated,” she said.
The BMOs and Cimas offered to assist Government in acquiring and administering vaccines, which provide the only hope at present of a possible return to a more normal life and greater economic activity.
“We at Cimas have been actively preparing our members for vaccinations, disseminating information about the vaccines, how they have been developed, how they work and the fact that they do not contain any live virus and responding to frequently asked questions about the vaccines,” she said.
According to Centre for Disease and Control – US Department Health and Human Sciences, “The overall risk of hospitalization and death among fully vaccinated people will be much lower than among people with similar risk factors who are not vaccinated”
Cimas prides itself in having responded swiftly to offer COVID-19 testing facilities and to have led the way in countering concerns on fake test certificates by introducing QR coding for all Cimas MedLabs tests enabling officials to authenticate test result slips in respect of tests carried out at their laboratories.
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