LUSAKA, Zambia

Zambia on Monday revised downwards its COVID-19 vaccination target from 70% to 30% by December 2021.

The Southern African nation has 3.6 million people eligible for vaccination from a population of 18 million.

In a statement, Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said President Hakainde Hichilema would re-launch the national vaccination program on Thursday.

“The vaccination campaign is expected to serve as a catch-up campaign and get us one step closer to our new target,” Masebo said, adding: “The cumulative number of doses that have been administered to date is 757,241.”

At a recent media conference in the capital Lusaka, Hichilema announced that he was a proponent of the vaccination program, and his immediate family was fully vaccinated against the pandemic.

Masebo also reported nine new COVID-19 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 209,172.

She said for the third consecutive day, the country had not recorded a new death, leaving the cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths at 3,649.

Masebo said there are currently 312 active cases, while the number of recoveries stands at 205,211.