The government of Rwandan will receive 200,000 doses of the Chinese manufactured vaccine, Sinopharm, by next week.

The development was announced by the health minister Dr Daniel Ngamije while appearing on the national broadcaster on Thursday, August 12.

He said this alongside his counterpart, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi of local government, while shedding light on the new Covid-19 guidelines announced during the cabinet meeting of Wednesday, August 11.

 Next week, we are waiting for more vaccines that were recently approved by the World Health Organization, apart from Pfizer, Moderna and Astrazeneca that are already in use,” he said adding that it is a new vaccine called Sinopharm which was manufactured in China and was recently approved by the World Health Organization,” he said.

Ngamije then highlighted the government’s efforts to extend its vaccination campaign particularly to the vulnerable population.

The World Health Organization has announced that the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 79% effective against Covid-19.

Sinopharm is a double-shot Covid-19 vaccine.

Mandatory Vaccination

The Minister for local government Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi also urged employees in the public sector to get vaccinated because it might be mandatory soon.  

"Very soon, vaccination will be mandatory for public sector employees who want to work from the offices so as to make sure the workplace is safe,” he said.

"There won’t be an excuse once the vaccines are available,”

As of August 12, over 729,000 Rwandans have been vaccinated, including vulnerable populations like the elderly, and those with high-exposure jobs.