Rwanda’s progress in administering Covid-19 vaccines is largely credited with reducing mortality rate in recent days, notably the zero coronavirus deaths recorded on Monday, a top health official has said. According to the nightly Covid update from the Ministry of Health released late Monday, October 11, there were no confirmed virus-related deaths registered in the country in the previous 24 hours. This was the first time Rwanda recorded no Covid-related deaths in a day since June 15. Up to 20 people died from the virus during the previous week, taking the total number of Covid fatalities in the country to 1,308. “We are not yet out of the woods but the vaccines are working,” Lt Col Dr Tharcisse Mpunga (pictured right), the Minister of State in charge of Primary Healthcare, told The New Times Tuesday. He noted that the national vaccination effort had also driven down the positivity rate, adding that registering zero Covid deaths for the first time in nearly three months was positive news. But people should remain vigilant as the virus continues to spread, even though the pace of infections has slowed, he warned. According to the Ministry of Health, 46 confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded from 7,498 tests conducted on Monday, representing a positivity rate of 0.6 per cent. The average positivity rate for the previous seven days stood at 1 per cent. A total of 193, 091 people received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, with 2,110 receiving their second jab, official figures show. Overall, 1, 689, 091 people have been fully vaccinated, while 2, 485,979 others had received their first dose by Monday. Rwanda began another mass vaccination phase on August 13, starting with Kigali where all adults are eligible, while a fresh effort has also been rolled out in districts outside the capital. At least 21 per cent of the 7.8 million Rwandans the government wants jabbed have been fully vaccinated.
