CLAIM: In Africa, Zimbabwe is only second to Morocco in terms of COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
Source: The Chronicle
VERDICT: INCORRECT. Zimbabwe is among the leading African countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations, but it is not the second. Nor is Morocco the first.
An article by the Chronicle newspaper on September 20 https://www.chronicle.co.zw/covid-19-zim-leads-in-vaccines-rollout-in-africa stated that Morocco is the only country that has managed to vaccinate more of its citizens in Africa than Zimbabwe.
“So far, Morocco is the only country that has managed to vaccinate more of its citizens in Africa than Zimbabwe,” the newspaper reported, citing statistics from the Our World In Data portal.
However, the latest available data from the portal shows that Zimbabwe had, as of September 19, vaccinated 13,69% of its population. This would place the country behind the Seychelles, Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia and Eswatini, but ahead of South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana and Egypt.
Data from the World Health Organisation for full vaccinations per 100 people shows that there are 7 countries outperforming Zimbabwe – Seychelles (72), Mauritius (55), Morocco (45), Tunisia (26), Cape Verde (19), Comoros (18) and Eswatini (16). According to WHO data, Zimbabwe is tied with neighbours South Africa and Botswana on 13 full vaccinations per 100 people.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage is only second to Morocco’s on the African continent is incorrect.