Six months after the start of mass vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 throughout the country, a majority of the Rwandan population is now fully vaccinated. The goal is to inoculate 9.1 million people by June of this year.
By Ange Iliza, in Kigali
Impacted like the rest of the continent by the Covid-19 pandemic, Rwanda has nevertheless managed to secure a steady flow of vaccine doses by August 2021 through donations – thanks to the Covax public-private partnership, under the aegis of the WHO – and purchases, via the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative, led by the African Union.
Vaccinating the entire target population
At the time, the country had just experienced a new wave of infections and a lockdown of the capital city of Kigali, as well as eight other districts. Less than one million people had been vaccinated and more than 900 lives had been lost due to the pandemic. Since then, more than 13 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have entered the country, and China announced on January 12 that it would donate an additional 4 million doses as part of the 1 billion doses it plans to give to Africa this year. As for the number of people vaccinated, more than 8.1 million Rwandans have received at least one dose, including 6.6 million who have received two doses and more than 730,000 who have received the third booster dose. As a result, according to the Ministry of Health, the vaccine stockpile is now sufficient to vaccinate the entire target population of 9.1 million people (70% of the total population).
Meanwhile, several African countries are lagging behind, with slow and insufficient vaccine deployment. As a result, by the end of 2021, only 280 million doses have been administered for a population of 1.3 billion, although 572 million doses have been delivered to date. According to the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa), this lack of speed explains why 2.8 million doses of vaccine have already expired on the continent, or about 0.5% of all doses delivered.
« Any dose of vaccine that expires pains me because that is a life that can be potentially saved”
Doses donated by partner countries or through the COVAX scheme, and which sometimes arrive with very close expiration dates, prompting John Nkengasong, director of CDC Africa, to request that the Covid-19 vaccines supplied have a longer shelf life. « In terms of the 0.5%, let me be very clear, any dose of vaccine that expires pains me because that is a life that can be potentially saved, » Dr. Nkengasong said at a press briefing on January 20.
Conversely, Rwandan authorities say none of their vaccine doses have been wasted or expired, as the country’s vaccine system allows for immediate administration. “Like perfectly oiled machinery, everybody is doing a wonderful job at their level. They are clear about their gaps and how to address them. It is impressive to see the mobilization Rwanda has embarked on from the sector level with local leaders who know their numbers, as well as they, know their people. You can tell the coordination goes beyond just vaccination. Rwanda Is clearly on track to achieving national and WHO targets”, said Dr. Brian Chirombo, WHO’s representative in Rwanda.
Rigorous guidelines, regularly updated
The country has strict and regularly updated precautionary guidelines for both the local population and travelers. Travelers are subject to a PCR test and regular rapid tests during their stay in Rwanda. All at their own cost. Rwanda also has a 12 A.M to 4 A.M. curfew, which allows businesses to remain open until 11 P.M., exception for bars, that must close early. Employees are encouraged to work from home, and gatherings and festivities are prohibited, except for a limited number of fully vaccinated and tested people.
All these rules are certainly a pain in the neck for businesses – especially the hospitality sector – but they have certainly paid off: the rate of positivity to the Covid-19 virus has dropped from 6% in December to 3% today. A total of 1,399 people have died as a result of the pandemic, and health authorities confirm that most of the victims are elderly and unvaccinated.
Soon a BioNTech vaccine plant
In the meantime, the race for vaccines remains on the continent, while according to the CDC Africa, about 5% of the African population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, a situation mainly due to the difficulty of states to obtain the serum. By 2040, the continent aims to increase its own vaccine production from the current 1% to 60%. While Morocco has already laid the groundwork for its vaccine factory (read Morocco: a vaccine factory 100% « made in Morocco »), Rwanda will soon be producing as well. The German laboratory BioNTech has announced that it will set up messenger RNA vaccine production sites in Africa by the end of 2022, notably in Senegal and Rwanda, to « support the supply of vaccines to member countries of the African Union » (AU), according to a press release from the laboratory.
