More than 250,000 people received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Rwanda in one week. The country launched a vaccination campaign on Friday, March 5, after receiving about 340,000 doses as part of the Covax initiative, mainly from the Astra-Zeneca laboratory, but also from the Pfizer laboratory.
For a week, photos of injections have followed each other in the media. There were first the nursing staff and the elderly, then prisoners, refugees, some motorcycle taxis, but also the staff of the national airline, RwandAir as well as the hotels that will welcome the delegates from the chief meeting. In Commonwealth State, scheduled for Kigali in June.
Paul Kagame also received a dose and became the first President of East Africa to announce his vaccination.
Rwanda is the first African country to administer the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine, which is to be stored at very low temperatures. The country had acquired specific refrigerators for this purpose a few months ago. The transfer of 100,000 doses from the airport to the warehouse hangar was very delicate, but it was a success, blows a source within the Ministry of Health.
Rwanda, which has implemented some of the toughest measures on the continent to fight coronavirus, hopes to vaccinate 60% of the population by the end of 2022.
