The President of the European Union (EU) Council, Charles Michel, on Monday, March 8, applauded Rwanda’s Covid-19 vaccination exercise.

He said this on the sideline of his visit to Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali, a non-governmental organisation that seeks to create an entrepreneurial hub for the community to exchange ideas and develop their business plan.

During his two-day visit to Rwanda, which ended on Monday, Michel among others graced a Covid-19 vaccination exercise at Mayange Health Centre in Bugesera.

Rwanda’s vaccination campaign kicked off on Friday and as of Sunday, almost 200,000 people had been vaccinated countrywide, according to the Ministry of Health. This is equivalent to 1.6 per cent of the country’s population.

"It is very impressive because there is a commitment in implementing the vaccination campaign, which is key for the future,” Michel said while commenting on his assessment of Rwanda’s vaccination exercise.

 "Covid-19 is a big challenge for the world, and we won’t be safe until everyone is safe. EU was pleased to support the COVAX Facility, which is now effective because we are now able to deliver the Covid-19 doses.”

The European Union and its member countries are by far the major contributors to the COVAX facility, an initiative that intends to ensure equity as far as access to Covid-19 vaccines by countries is concerned.

The union has contributed over €2.2 billion to the COVAX facility.

Rwanda is among few African countries that began vaccinating their population against Covid-19, thanks to the COVAX framework and international cooperation. The country has so far acquired over 370,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

In addition to batches received by the country through COVAX, Rwanda is set to get other doses through the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative amounting to 2.6 million doses.

The country is currently vaccinating priority groups that include health personnel and other frontline workers, people aged 65 and above, teachers, inmates, people living with disabilities and those with underlying health conditions among others.

According to the Ministry of Health, on Monday, other groups of people receiving Covid-19 jabs include airport staff, traders and taxi drivers.