Zimbabwe Peace Project

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Overveiw

In early December 2020, the world began warming
up to the option of vaccination as a preferred
containment measure as compared to lockdowns.
On February 18, 2021, Zimbabwe Vice President Dr.
Constantino Chiwenga volunteered to take the ﬁrst
Sinopharm vaccine, marking the rollout of the
vaccination program in the country. The program,
largely anchored on donations, targeted essential
services providers, particularly frontline healthcare
workers. Notwithstanding the government’s
incapacities of a large scale rollout, Zimbabweans
had reservations and concerns on speculated
harmful side effects that included possibility of
death after taking the vaccine. The fourth edition of
the COVID-19 Accountability Tracker covers related
developments in the months February and March
2021 focusing on documented human rights
violations and prejudices ensuing from the COVID19 management measures instituted by the
Government of Zimbabwe.

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Feb-March2021_ZPP COVID 19 Accountability Tracker (March 2021)

Accountability Tracker

Executive Summary: After a long speculated battle, Zimbabwe settled for the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. On 15 February 2021, a consignment of 200,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses was donated to Zimbabwe by the People’s Republic of China. In a gesture to allay public fears, the Zimbabwe Vice President Constantino Chiwenga took the first jab. On March 16th 2021, the government issued conflicting official statements on a second consignment of 200,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses donated by China, leading to a public outcry on lack of clarity and transparency on consignments coming in as donations and those bought using public funds. The assertions suggest that the government is manipulating donated vaccines and declaring some quantities as having been bought by the state. On February 26, 2021, the Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Minister, July Moyo, published a legal notice ordering more than twelve thousand villagers occupying approximately 12,940 hectares of Chilonga communal land in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe, to leave immediately. The legal notice, Statutory Instrument 50 of 2021, said the land was being set aside for lucerne grass production. The eviction order and its effects comes hard at a time where citizens are bearing the brunt of a non performing economy and further worsened by the pandemic. The forced, unplanned movement poses serious risks given the nature of the pandemic that discourages movement of persons. Informed by the reduction in new COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe, the government gazetted a Statutory Instrument 110 of 2020. Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Amendment) Order, 2020 (No. 8), which entailed easing of some lockdown measures and paving way for partial reopening of the industry and schools. Given the high dependency on donations, Zimbabwe Government has officially ‘approved’ administration of four (4) vaccines, being, Sinopharm and Sinovac from China, Covaxin from India and Russia’s Sputnik V. On March 29th 2021, President Emmerson Mnangagwa received a donation of 35,000 doses of Covaxin. The consignment is part of the 75,000 doses donated by the Indian Government. Zimbabwe became the first African nation to administer Covaxin.

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COVID-19 Accountability Tracker (March 2021).pdf
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