President Emmerson Mnangagwa has clarified that foreigners who wish to get vaccinated for COVID-1`9 in the country will have to pay for the jab.
Speaking at the State House yesterday, the President said all foreigners will receive the jab at a cost.
“Zimbabweans will get the vaccine for free, but for foreigners who come here, they will receive the vaccine at a cost,” Mnangagwa said.
“This is a human element when we cannot deny anybody the vaccine, but if you are not Zimbabwean, we will give you the vaccine at a cost. But for Zimbabweans, my government is giving it for free. I would want all my people to realize that getting a vaccine is not a guarantee that they will never get the virus, but it mitigates against the infection of the virus,” he said.
Information secretary, Nick Mangwana said non-Zimbabweans who are lawfully staying in Zimbabwe would not pay for the vaccine, but tourists and other foreigners who visit Zimbabwe for various reasons would pay for the service.
“Legal residents of Zimbabwe are vaccinated for free. Tourists pay. And some people may make a decision to come from one of our neighboring countries to get a vaccine in Zimbabwe, those pay too,” he tweeted yesterday.
Recent statistics released by the Health ministry show that COVID-19 cases are beginning to rise again in the country, hence the need to accelerate the vaccination programme.
As of yesterday morning, 193 936 people had received their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The country’s vaccination programme to curb the respiratory virus is in progress using the Chinese-manufactured Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, as well as the Indian Covaxin vaccine as Zimbabwe targets to inoculate at least 10 million, which is 60% of the population to achieve herd immunity.
