Reports reaching Taarifa reveal that more than 25 priests, 60 sisters and two elders of the laity have died within two months of various causes including respiratory challenges.

Father Charles Kitima the General Secretary of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) revealed the troublesome news while addressing the media on the Covid epidemic. He said  the deaths occurred between  mid December and February in different parts of the country.

He has urged church members to continue taking precautions against the disease in accordance with health ministry guidelines.

“Please continue taking precautions against this disease by following the instructions of the Ministry of Health. Priests are dying and sisters are dying but this number within two months has shocked us,” said Kitima.

He said TEC president Gervas Nyaisonga had already distributed guidelines to bishops of various dioceses on measures to protect themselves against Covid while providing services.

A group of people through their umbrella organisation in South Kivu province of the DRC have warned government against attempts of carrying out vaccination against covid-19 in their area.

The citizen movement Réveil des indignés has warned non-governmental organizations and the authorities against any manipulation of cases of covid-19 in the provinces.

”Le Réveil des indignés has already announced that it will thwart any form of suspected vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in South Kivu, and warns NGOs and authorities against any manipulation of Covid-19 cases in the provinces. Insecurity kills more than covid-19, ” the group said in a statement.

The vaccination phase against the Covid-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is announced for next week in Kinshasa, epicenter of the pandemic in the DRC; the Minister of Health, Dr Eteni Longondo announced, specifying that the first people concerned for vaccination are the medical staff, the elderly and people suffering from diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, February 25, a general panic was noted in schools in the city of Bukavu.

Some parents had come to withdraw their children from schools following a rumor of a certain campaign to vaccinate students against Covid-19.

DRC received on March 2, 2021 at N’djili international airport, a batch of 1.7 million doses of vaccines to be administered against the Covid-19 pandemic in the DRC.

Upon his reception, the Minister of Health, Dr Eteni Longondo said he was satisfied with the arrival of vaccines in the DRC and promised to continue with the public awareness campaign for a few days before the actual vaccination stage. said.

President Paul Kagame has expressed gratitude that Africa has finally received the first jabs of COVID-19 Vaccines from the Global Access (COVAX), a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others.

Kagame made the remark on Wednesday afternoon hours after Rwanda received 240,000 shots. The second consignment with 102,960 jabs of the Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive in the evening.

Kenya and Rwanda have received their first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative. Kenya has received 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccines.

“It’s been long wait, some better prepared and more ready,” Kagame said on twitter, adding that, ” … not to mention some ‘more equal than others’ BUT certainly all of us in urgent NEED.”

He said that “Now good news to see #COVID19 Vaccines arrive in Africa starting with Ghana…this morning in Rwanda and more. Thanks, COVAX.’

According to the Rwanda government, a vaccination plan scheduled for rollout on Friday will see target risk groups across the country receive their first of two vaccine doses.

The target is to vaccinate 30% of the population by the end of 2021, and 60% by the end of 2022,” the government said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Uganda government said, it is scheduled to receive its first Covid-19 vaccine consignment on Friday and will start vaccinating people against  Covid-19  next Wednesday on March 10.

Uganda’s first batch of the COVID-19 jabs will comprise of 864,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday became the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine through the scheme.

Akufo-Addo urged people to get inoculated and not to believe conspiracy theories casting doubt on the programme, which will see some 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine rolled out nationwide on Tuesday.