BY YASSINI NHARA Last month President Emmerson Mnangagwa held a state of the nation address where he indicated that a COVID-19 vaccine was expected into the country “quite soon”. He indicated that further announcements regarding the process would be made “in the coming days”. On February 4, 2021, the President addressed the nation again and confirmed that the government was in the process of developing and finalising a State-funded national vaccination strategy and a national vaccine deployment framework, respectively. Subsequently, a national rollout, deployment and vaccination plan (DVP) was presented before Parliament on February 16 2021. As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to spread, the bringing to market of several vaccinations against the virus has been met with mixed feelings across the world. In a developing country such as Zimbabwe, the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine has inevitably raised more questions than answers. In view of the fact that it is a constitutionally guaranteed right that every citizen and resident of Zimbabwe has access to basic healthcare and bodily and psychological protection, it becomes necessary to examine the fundamental rights and freedoms that are inherent to the DVP. In Zimbabwe, the primary legislation on public healthcare is the Public Health Act [Chapter 15:17] (the Public Health Act) which, amongst other things, stipulates crucial guiding principles that are incumbent to public health practices. Section 31 of the Act provides that public health policy and practice ought to be guided and informed by, a respect for human rights, the employment of precautionary and protective measures when there is uncertainty or incomplete information about a public health risk, the involvement of the community in decisions and actions that affect their health, the promotion of access to information and education regarding public health and respect for international commitments as they pertain to public health. In view of the provisions of the Public Health Act, and pursuant to the state of the nation address given by the President on January 23 2021, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, in a letter dated January 26 2021 sought clarity and access to information from the Health and Child Welfare ministry regarding the rollout of the national vaccination strategy. In a letter of response dated January 28 2021, the ministry indicated that it had taken a “measured approach” in the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines due to a varied number of considerations. It was further indicated that the choice of vaccine to be used, its importation and distribution would fall within the purview of the State. On February 4 2021, the President addressed the nation, and in addition to echoing the contents of the letter received by the Human Rights NGO Forum, highlighted the following in relation to the national vaccination strategy: That the government has set aside resources for the acquisition of vaccines together with related partners; That the acquisition of vaccines would be State-funded and available to the