What you should know about new Covid-19 vaccination campaign

The Ministry of Health on Monday, August 23 kicked-off the third phase of the vaccination campaign that targets the general population aged 18 and above, starting with the City of Kigali. The City of Kigali has dedicated over 40 Covid-19 vaccination sites where an eligible person can go and present his or her identity card or any other official document that shows their age. From the three districts of Kigali; Kicukiro District has 13 sites while Gasabo District and Nyarugenge District have 20 and 10 sites respectively. As the campaign is expected to last two weeks, adults will be going to these sites for the first Covid vaccine dose while for those seeking the second one can go to the nearest health centre, said health officials. According to a spot check done by The New Times on Monday many sites that were visited had experienced huge turn up with people eager to get their vaccine. The Mayor of the City of Kigali, Pudence Rubingisa said on Monday that this particular phase targets 300,000 people living in the city. The door-to-door campaign is also still ongoing, where a mobile team is deployed in the three districts to vaccinate people with mobility challenges including; senior citizens, people with disability, pregnant and nursing mothers. Speaking on the national broadcaster on August 22, Lt Col Tharcisse Mpunga said that almost 80 per cent of elderly people in Kigali have been vaccinated. He said that this is a pilot that is to be taken upcountry as vaccines continue coming in. “Starting Tuesday, August 24, we will supply more vaccines to the elderly and young people who are at high risk of exposure.” Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi, minister of local government said that “Where we are headed, civil workers and the public who won’t be vaccinated might be at risk of missing out on different services because they did not take the vaccine when it was available.” Over the past couple of weeks, Rwanda has been receiving different batches of vaccines which permits the feasibility of this campaign and target of vaccinating 90 per cent of adults in Kigali and 30 per cent of population by the end of this year. The increase in the number of people who are vaccinated is likely to lead to a phased lifting of restrictions in place to contain the virus. Just last week, the Ministry of Sports gave a greenlight to spectators who have received at least the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine to access the Kigali Arena and stadiums for different championships due to be held in the near future. However, CP John Bosco Kabera speaking on the national broadcaster, highlighted the need to continue adhering to Covid guidelines regardless of the current trend in vaccination and ease of measures. As of August 22, the cumulative number of people who have received the first was 1,048,640 while those who have received both doses are 424,768.

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What you should know about new Covid-19 vaccination campaign