LUSAKA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Sunday expressed optimism that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine will significantly reduce infections in the country.
The Minister of Health Jonas Chanda said in a release that countries that have rolled the vaccine in the southern African region have seen a reduction in new cases, noting that attaining good vaccine coverage was essential for immunity as evidenced in countries administering the vaccine.
He further commended experts under the Zambia Immunization Technical Advisory Group for their input and guidance in the country's planned vaccine acquisition and deployment, stressing that the information provided has been crucial on the decision to be taken by the Cabinet.
According to him, the country has continued to record reductions in positivity rates despite an increase in the testing capacity.
Meanwhile, the country recorded 176 new cases in the last 24 hours out of 4,764 tests done. This brings the cumulative cases to 86,449 while 148 patients were discharged during the same period, bringing the total recoveries to 83,258.
One person died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total deaths to 1,179. Enditem
