Thread by @OpenParlyZw

WHY ARE WE ACCEPTING A VACCINE THAT THE CHINESE ARE NOT USING THEMSELVES?

@BitiTendai : I want to thank the esteemed Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care. I have got four questions for the esteemed Minister. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @ZIMCODD1

@BitiTendai : Hon. Minister Sir, why are you pursuing head count instead of a target of just immunising every Zimbabwean? Head counting did not work in the United Kingdom and other countries. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @kubatana @ZimRightsLIVE @CitManifesto

@BitiTendai : So, why is your strategy on head-count instead of just immunising everyone because everyone can fall sick and die? We have lost so many people. My suggestion is that you must go for a target of immunising every Zimbabwean. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts

@BitiTendai : Secondly, why have you registered Sinopharm? The Sinopharm drug itself has not yet been peer-reviewed and has not been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @ZIMCODD1 @ZimRightsLIVE @kubatana @CitManifesto

@BitiTendai : In China itself, Sinopharm is not the dominant drug, the dominant drug is actually Sinovac. So why are you accepting from China a drug that Chinese themselves are not using? #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @MagambaNetwork @China_Amb_Zim

@BitiTendai : Thirdly Hon. Minister Sir, I did not hear you utter a single word on Covax. Has the Zimbabwean Government made an application for Covax and if so, what is the stage with regards to Zimbabwe acquiring drugs under the Covax scheme. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW

@BitiTendai : The fourth question; in view of the fact that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development did not allocate any budget for COVID-19 vaccinations in the 2021 Budget, what has the Government budgeted for? #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW

@BitiTendai : In your Statement Hon. Minister, you were referring to a budget of USD6 million, even to buy a herd of cattle in Matebeleland South, USD6 million is not enough. What is the budget for COVID-19 vaccines that will be sufficient to vaccinate the people of Zimbabwe?

@BitiTendai : I will stop here for now Sir even though I have many questions. Thank you very much, Hon. Vice President.

VP CHIWENGA: Hon. Biti asked what Govt has done. Government has come up with a budget of $100 million and the private sector has also come up with their budget to contribute towards vaccines. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @MagambaNetwork @TheFeedZW @ZimRightsLIVE

VP CHIWENGA: An account has been opened where the corporate are putting their money and all this is under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The corporate sector is cooperating. However, when it comes to life, life does not know whether you are rich or poor.

VP CHIWENGA: You die and unfortunately whether you are rich or poor you do not get up, you are gone. As I said earlier on that life cannot be bought, we want to make sure that every life in Zimbabwe is saved, no matter the person is rich or poor. We want that life to be saved.

VP CHIWENGA: That is why the President has asked and he chaired the meeting of the corporate sector to find what they were going to do and they came and volunteered their assistance.

VP CHIWENGA: They have pledged quite a lot, for instance, some have pledged up to 10000 doses which means they can treat a few of their workers and the rest will be to assist other Zimbabweans. That is how they are contributing.

VP CHIWENGA: Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga, every citizen at the end will be vaccinated. Here what we are saying is we cannot vaccinate everybody even if we had all the vaccines, we cannot vaccinate everybody in one day.

VP CHIWENGA: We are saying what is our priority, we have lined up the priority area to say the health or frontline workers, those with chronic illnesses for example if we take two Hon. Members here one is diabetic and one is healthy... #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts

VP CHIWENGA: ...we will take the one with diabetes and give him first priority because the healthy one stands a better chance to survive when attacked by the virus. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts

VP CHIWENGA: The 15 vaccines I was talking about are the vaccines that have been manufactured or researched on by various companies or countries. You will find in one country they might have come up with 3 or 4 vaccines.–

VP CHIWENGA: The example that has been given of the People’s Republic of China, they have got more than five, America has got more than four, they have got Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, - [HON. BITI: Astrazeneca] – no, Astrazeneca is for the British –

VP CHIWENGA: We look at how those vaccines have been made. I will ask my deputy to explain with the permission from the Speaker. #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @ZIMCODD1 @ZimRightsLIVE @kubatana @CitManifesto @MagambaNetwork @JanetZhou_Mago @jmaketo @ComradeFatsooo

VP CHIWENGA: We have got what we call the MRNA, those you have gone into the laboratory but when you go to the attenuated, you actually kill the virus and then make a vaccine out of it. This is the one we would want because that is the genuine one.

VP CHIWENGA; The other one can give you wrong signals in your body. I will ask my scientist to come on that one so that Hon. Members understand. The Medicine Control Authority of Zimbabwe is where we have our experts.

VP CHIWENGA; They will look at all the vaccines and say choose the best vaccine for our country not what those people are saying out there, each one saying their vaccine is the best.

VP CHIWENGA; If 3 people are saying shirts, you cannot say but Hon. Biti’s shirt is the better one and mine is the best you will say mine is the best. It is upon us to choose what we want #WhereAreOurVaccinesZW #OpenCovidContracts @ZIMCODD1 @kubatana @ZimRightsLIVE @CitManifesto