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| The government targeting 11 million Tanzanians or 20% of the population |
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tanzania has vaccinated 345,000 people which is 34 percent of the vaccine that was received over one month ago.
The government plans to vaccinate 60 percent of all Tanzanians, said government spokesperson, Gerson Msigwa while speaking to reporters in Dodoma on Sunday.
Msigwa said the government is preparing to launch the second phase of Covid-19 vaccination campaign which will be provided to groups that were not reached during the first phase.
Without mentioning the actual date of the launch, he said is expected to take place later this month or early October.
He said arrangements will be made to make it easy for public to receive the jabs.
“There is nothing new to this second phase of vaccination compared to the previous but the aim is to mobilize more people and add more vaccination centers in rural areas,” he said.
He said that during the first phase the biggest challenge was the distance to where the jabs were being provided from human settlements which caused many to not reached easily.
“The government is continuing to educate people on the importance of getting Covid-19 jabs especially when one has been infected with the virus,” said Msigwa urging people to keep taking all precaution measures against the deadly disease.
The government is targeting a total of 11 million Tanzanians equivalent to 20 percent of the total population for vaccination through the Covax initiative, which is co-led by Gavi, the World Health Organization (WHO) and CEPI.
With 345,000 being vaccinated that means there are 655, 000 jabs still available out of over 1 million doses of the Janssen coronavirus vaccine donated on July 24, this year from the United States. — NNN-AGENCIES
