The country will begin administering the doses this week, President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa said on his official Twitter profile.
“The first batch of vaccines for Zimbabwe has been successfully delivered. We will start the Zimbabweans vaccine this week! The sooner our country is protected from this virus, the sooner Zimbabwe ‘s economy will prosper, “he said.
The country’s Ministry of Health tweeted on Sunday that the 200,000 doses were given by China.
Another 600,000 doses are expected to reach China in early March, information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said last week. It is unclear what the South African country will pay for the second batch of vaccines from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the head of the group receiving the vaccines, which included the finance minister, said frontline health workers were the first to receive the vaccine.
“This is a timely donation … our people have suffered from this pandemic. The vaccine provides an opportunity for those of us who have suffered from the serious economic consequences of the disease. to turn a new page, “said Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe has set aside $ 100 million for vaccine supplies, and is looking to buy 20 million doses in efforts to vaccinate about 60% of its population and achieve herd protection.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said that about 1.8 million doses of vaccine will be obtained from China. He gave no further details.
Last week, Senegal paid the West African nation $ 3.7 million for 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine – nearly $ 19 per bullet.
Few African countries have started providing vaccines as the continents scramble to provide for their 1.3 billion people, even as many richer countries are racing ahead with major immunization programs.
The African Union says it has received about 670 million doses for the African continent.
Zimbabwe is also negotiating with Russia to get its Sputnik vaccines and expected more doses from India and COVAX.
The country has so far reported nearly 35,000 confirmed cases of the virus and nearly 1,400 deaths.