Rwanda Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente is scheduled to present to Parliament, in a joint session, government ’s actions relating to Covid-19 vaccination program.
According to the schedule, the Prime Minister will commence his presentation at 3PM this afternoon.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that since Covid-19 first reached Rwanda territory in March last year, it has claimed a total of 1,343 lives from over 100,000 cases of infections.
The government has since rolled-out a vaccination program whose access it says is global and non-discriminatory according to Public Health Bulletin an open-access and peer-reviewed bulletin published by Rwanda Health Communication Centre (RHCC).
Towards the end of 2020, the Government of Rwanda had already applied for different vaccines, including Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, among others.
Rwanda set up infrastructures such as procuring ultra-cold freezers and containers for each of the 4 provinces for proper storage and distribution of vaccines. Facilities for easy transport, protocols, and personnel were prepared for better roll outs of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
Under the national vaccine plan, it also covers all refugees and asylum-seekers who live in Rwanda.
Details also indicate that government continues negotiations with partners, including international organizations and other governments, to acquire additional vaccines to cover more people with the plan to vaccinate 8 million people in 2 years.
Rwanda in September had fully vaccinated 10% of its population against COVID-19, reaching the September global target by the World Health Organization (WHO) aimed at widening vaccination and helping to turn the tide against the pandemic.
Prior to the arrival of the first vaccines, the Joint Task Force Committee (JTFC) and the scientific advisory group for COVID-19 vaccination began establishing possible decentralised strategies for quick and effective rollout.
Decisions made for mitigations were decentralized across ministries and local authorities, down to village leaders and Community Health Workers (CHWs).
This approach led to the successful transport of vaccines from central distribution hubs in Kigali to remote areas of the country within 24 hours following vaccines’ arrival.
By September Rwanda had received around 3.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines – 1.1 million of these from The COVAX Facility, 108 000 from the Africa Centres for Disease Control’s Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust; and 2.1 million from bilateral agreements. Of these, it has administered 3.3 million doses and fully vaccinated 10% of its 13 million people.
Prime Minister Ngirente is expected to expound on the ongoing vaccination program.
