WINTER COVID-19 CAUTION

THE cold season is here and with the re-opening of school there is need to raise Covid-19 surveillance. Even though the country is conducting a successful nationwide campaign, we must not let down our guard. Many office workers are back to full time schedules and children are spending more hours in classes raisong the risk of possible infection. This is why the vaccine is important in  building immunity as we resume normal life. The saying remains true: Prevention is better than cure. As the world lines up to access batches of Covid-19 vaccines, Zambia is already considering other options. Government has announced that it will consider adding China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to its basket of vaccines to ensure adequate doses for the eligible population in Zambia. This follows World Health Organisation (WHO) approval of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and added it to the list of vaccines, which is a prerequisite for a potential COVAX roll-out. Minister of Health Jonas Chanda disclosed that Sinopharm is in use in over 100 countries with millions of people vaccinated and it is a safe and efficacious vaccine. In his daily beiefing Dr Chanda expressed delight in the great improvement concerning the COVID-19 vaccination uptake by Zambians especially the frontline workers. ‘’We are elated to see many ordinary people including our service providers in our markets and bus stations follow their leaders in accessing the COVID-19 vaccine, ’’ he said. Yesterday, Dr Chanda indicated that in the last 24 hours 5,787 persons had been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca-vaccine bringing the total of all vaccinated so far against COVID-19 to 77,348. He further urged all the political parties to be a part of the positive response in tandem with the COVID-19 prevention guidelines to ensure safety from COVID-19 before, during and after elections and indeed any other incidences as the country goes into the campaigns and elections processes. “We are elated to report the positive receipt of COVID-19 guidelines by the different parties after a team of technical experts from the Ministry of Health Headquarters and Zambia National Public Health Institute participated in the Electoral Commission of Zambia led engagement with the political party leaders and other related stakeholders,” Dr Chanda said. All community leaders must support Covid-19 Vaccination campaign and in this way, we can be sure of lessening the burden of our health professionals as we enter into the cold season.