By OLIVER SAMBOKO
THE Chinese government has donated another one million COVID-19 vaccines to Zambia as part of that country’s corporation in the fight against the deadly pandemic.
Health Minister, Sylvia Masebo and Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, Li Jie received 400, 000 of the one million vaccines doses yesterday at the Kenneth Kaunda international Airport.
And speaking at the KKIA , the Chinese envoy said Zambia and China have agreed that the one million vaccines pledged last year will be dispatched in three batches.
He said China will mobilize more resources to help Zambia tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as a demonstration of the cordial relations that have existed between the two countries over the years.
Mr Li Jie, said the current donation was in addition to another 100, 000 doses donated last year.
He said the two countries have collaborated in the fight against the pandemic since the first case was announced in March 2020 and thanked Zambia for the support rendered when China recorded its first cases in 2019.
And Ms Masebo said thanked China for the donation, saying the donation is a mark of the cordial relations that have existed between the two countries.
She said the arrival of the vaccines was timely as it comes at a time when the country has started administering booster vaccines as well as the introduction of the vaccines for children aged 12 years and above.
Ms Masebo said the Zambian government has targeted to vaccinate about 70 percent of the eligible population by June this year, adding that Chinese vaccines will go a long way in helping the country meet the target.
She said the friendship between the two countries was centered on people-to-people basis despite a change of governments, adding that the mission of the current government was to continue building on the cordial relations laid by the leaders of the old generation of the two countries.Ms Masebo also said the new dawn government is thankful to China for the support rendered over the years in various areas of the health sector, including infrastructure development
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