Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan shows a vaccination card after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in Dar es Salaam
DAR ES SALAAM, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan launched the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive and received a jab of Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Speaking at the State House before launching the vaccination drive, Hassan told Tanzanians that the vaccines are safe and she would not take any risk, in a bid to assure the public of the safety of the vaccines.
Other top officials vaccinated at the launch included the prime minister, the chief justice, and the foreign minister.
Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Dorothy Gwajima said plans are afoot to secure other types of COVID-19 vaccines to enable people to make their choices.
According to health authorities, priority for vaccination will be given to frontline workers, the elderly, and those with underlying health issues.
On July 24, Tanzania received over 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility.
Hassan’s vaccination on Wednesday was the most decisive signal yet of a break from the policies of her late predecessor who repeatedly dismissed the threat of the pandemic.
Former President John Magufuli had warned citizens against COVID-19 vaccines and recommended at-home remedies such as steam inhalation. Since his death in March and the swearing-in of Hassan, the government has changed course on COVID-19, with officials now calling for physical distancing and emphasising mask-wearing in public.
Tanzania went well over a year without updating its number of confirmed COVID-19 cases but has now resumed reporting the data to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which showed 858 cases in the country as of Wednesday.
Just two African countries still have yet to start COVID-19 vaccinations, Burundi and Eritrea.
Burundi, whose late President Pierre Nkurunziza had also been criticised for downplaying the pandemic, has said vaccines are not needed yet. And Eritrea has long been criticised by human rights groups as one of the world’s most closed-off, repressive countries. — NNN-AGENCIES
