Zimbabwe opens schools, allows those from 14 to be vaccinated as active cases drop to less than 10 000

Zimbabwe yesterday announced that examination classes will open on Monday, 30 August, while the rest of the classes will open a week later on 6 September.

It also announced that it is extending vaccination to those aged 14 and above meaning that all pupils in secondary school can now be vaccinated.

The country is slowly getting on top of the pandemic as it recorded only 391 new cases and 18 deaths yesterday but 838 people recovered.

Harare and Bulawayo are doing quite well with active cases in Harare down to 832 and those in Bulawayo to 195. Midlands has the highest number of active cases at 1 629 followed by Masvingo with 1 543.

There are now 9 875 active cases in the country.

Mashonaland Central had the highest number of recoveries and the recovery rate has increased to 89% up from 69% at the beginning of the month.

More than 68 000 people were vaccinated yesterday with 39 897 getting the first dose and 28 853 the second.

Zimbabwe has received 2.5 million vaccine doses over the past week and is expected to receive almost 3.5 million more doses next month.

It already has the highest vaccination rate in Southern Africa with 26.6% of the population vaccinated as of 24 August, according to the Financial Times vaccine tracker. The tracker says 16.3% of the population has received one dose while 10.3% are fully vaccinated.

Those fully vaccinated can now eat at restaurants.

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