Bindura vaccinates 80%

By Staff Reporter

THE first of the two rounds of oral polio vaccination (OPV) carried out from the October 27 to 30 were conducted successfully, although failing to attain the required target.
Of the targeted children, Bindura District managed to vaccinate 80 percent of them and is aiming higher in the second round of the booster doses that will be carried out from December 1 to 4.
The District Nursing Officer, Onisimo Karisa, said that the percentage reached as a district showed that more children were left out in the vaccination and still need to be vaccinated.
“As a response to this, we made static facilities like hospitals and clinics to continue with the vaccination, even extending into December.”
Karisa highlighted that in the first campaign, each health facility had a target of reaching 95%, so the number of children they managed to vaccinate would determine how much these clinics should work in increasing their percentages.
“It is becoming a duty of every clinic in the District to establish where the unvaccinated children are, the reasons behind not being vaccinated and the strategies they will use to get these children vaccinated.
Bindura District is said to have high rates of people from certain religious sectors, which do not want their children to be vaccinated.
Karisa explained: “We do not force these religious objectors to get their children vaccinated, but we collect data on the reasons behind not going for vaccinations with their children.”
However, Health Promotions Officer, Blessing Tshabalala, said that some of them called health officers in private place to get their children vaccinated without the knowledge of their religious leaders.
The Ministry of Health acknowledges that the Covid-19 lockdowns might have disrupted the public from taking their children for vaccinations, hence appeals to members of the public to do so now that there are no longer lockdown restrictions.