BY JULIET MAKWAMA
HEALTH personnel working as volunteers or on temporal basis in various health facilities across the country will be prioritized in the recruitment of 11,200 health workers this year, Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo has said.
Ms Masebo said those coming from colleges would also be considered for employment but shall not be first priority unless in a field where there were no people.
Ms Masebo however said people would be employed across the board, as hospitals need a number of categories to operate effectively and some facilities did not have the needed staff in some departments.
She said there will be no need to employ people from outside their districts unless in cases where specialized services are needed.
Ms Masebo said this yesterday at the Kafue General Hospital in Lusaka Province, when she visited mothers of babies born on New Year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has re-assured citizens that COVID-19 vaccinations being administered are effective against different mutations of the virus as the protein structure remains the same despite different waves.
Some people have continuously queried if the vaccination against covid-19 is effective to prevent severe infection with new waves coming in.
But Ministry of Health Director Health Promotion Dr Kalangwa Kalangwa has explained that even as the virus mutates, the structure of proteins remains the same and vaccines remain effective regardless of mutations.
Speaking during a virtual media science café organized by MECISA, Dr Kalangwa Kalangwa says viruses that escape immunity are detected, the current vaccines do not need to be re-engineered and remain effective in preventing severe disease or death.
