30 percent prisoners receive first jabs

By Hazel Marimbiza

At least 30 percent of prisoners in Zimbabwe have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 25 percent have received their second jab, as the country continues to scale up its vaccination programme.

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services environmental health officer Principal Correctional Officer David Kunaka said vaccination in prisons started last month.

He said after the launch of the vaccination programme, ZPCS also followed up with health education whereby inmates were given information on the importance of vaccinating and that led to inmates willing to be vaccinated.

“In the previous weeks we have seen that inmates were eagerly waiting for the vaccines and when the vaccines came they lined up to get vaccinated.

“We have not witnessed any inmates refusing to be vaccinated. The present delays in all inmates getting vaccinated are due to the fact that the vaccines come in batches,” he said.

Meanwhile, visitors are still not allowed to visit prisoners expect for special cases like in the event that a prisoner is not feeling well or needs certain documents from home. For these special cases, ZPCS urges relatives who visit to observe Covid-19 protocols such as maintaining social distancing and washing hands. The Sunday News