Persons aged 58 years and above to be prioritised in Covid-19 vaccination
The Ministry of Health has announced that persons over the age of 58 years will be given priority in phase one of the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive.
In a statement issued on today, the Ministry said that the decision was arrived at due to the surge of Covid-19 cases with the elderly accounting for 60 per cent of deaths recorded.
“In view of this surge of the pandemic and in order to protect and save lives, the Ministry of Health has decided to immediately prioritize vaccinations of persons aged 58 years and above. This group of persons will now be a priority target group under the ongoing phase 1 vaccination exercise,” Willis Akhwale said.
“This prioritisation is also aligned to the WHO and National Taskforce on Vaccine Deployment recommendations,” he added.
The initial plan was to reach frontline workers, among them healthcare workers, teachers and those in the armed forces with the jab as they have a higher risk of contracting the virus based on the nature of their job.
The ministry has also urged political and religious leaders to come out and receive the jab in an effort to boost confidence in the overall vaccination process among the targeted groups.
Already, hospitals are overstretched and ICU beds running out, with the government reactivating the home based care for the management of asymptomatic patients.
This comes amid reports of low intakes of the vaccines with the government having managed to vaccinate just 64,100 people against the expected target of 1.25 million to be met by June.
