More than a million people have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 430,000 are double jabbed, as of August 21, according to numbers from the Ministry of Health. The national vaccination program kicked off in February, starting from high risk groups of people, including elderly people, people with chronic diseases and frontline health workers. Among the vaccines that were used, are Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, where some were received through COVAX initiative, donations or were bought by the country. This week Rwanda received around 500,000 Pfizer vaccines from the United States of America, as part of President Joe Biden’s commitment to donate 500 million doses to about 100 countries over the next two years. Apart from that, Rwanda also received about 200,000 doses of Covid Sinopharm vaccine from China, that were taken to about eight districts with the highest prevalence of Covid-19 new infections. This added to at least 250,000 vaccine doses which the country has been receiving every week, mainly through COVAX. During the reception of the vaccines from the US on Thursday, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, the Minister of Health said that the shipment would boost Rwanda’s vaccination efforts. “The target we have is that before the year ends, we will have vaccinated at least 30 percent of the population, and then next year, we hope to reach 60 percent,” he added. So far in Rwanda, apart from the people with high risk of being infected by the virus, all willing people with 40 years old and above around the country have been jabbed. Also according to a statement from Rwanda Biomedical Center, all people who are 18 years old and above will be vaccinated, starting from Kigali City on Monday, August 23. All people among eligible groups are advised to get vaccinated because the jabs will be most effective when the largest portion of the population has been vaccinated.
