The Tanzanian government has said it has no interest in gaining access to Covid-19 vaccines, confirming its status as an outlier in the world’s fight against the pandemic, as most other African countries have scrambled to fire shots. ensure.
The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, rejected lockouts and other social distance measures and instead encouraged the country’s 60 million citizens to pray in churches and mosques against a ‘satanic’ virus. When the government confirmed 509 Covid-19 infections and 21 deaths in May, the government stopped reporting cases to the World Health Organization, after Mr. Magufuli insisted that Tanzania had won the pandemic and that test sets showing positive results were faulty.
This week, Tanzania’s health minister Dorothy Gwajima said the country did not intend to import Covid-19 vaccines, including free doses he could get from the global Covax initiative, which aims to shoot to poor and middle-income countries.
“We are not yet satisfied that clinical evidence is that the vaccines are safe,” said Dr. Gwajima said at a news conference, flanked by unmasked health officials from the government.
According to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which co-manages the initiative with the WHO, Burundi, Eritrea and the island of Madagascar are the only other African countries that have opted out of the free Covax vaccines. Other early Covid-19 deniers, such as Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko – who last year called the coronavirus a ‘psychosis’ that could be controlled with vodka, saunas and propellants, have since accepted vaccinations.
During her conference, dr. Gwajima, a medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health, displays several trays of local herbs that she says can be used to make anti-coronavirus drugs. She encouraged Tanzanians to use steam along with disinfectants and hand washing to prevent the disease.
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“It is better that we continue to use traditional remedies that have been with us for generations,” she said. ‘We call on our neighbors to learn from how we handled Covid-19. We need to be a good model for them. ‘
Tanzania’s neighbors tell a different story. Ugandan and Zambian officials say they see large numbers of Tanzanian travelers testing positive as they try to cross the border. Rwanda denies access to Tanzanian truck drivers. Countries as far away as Denmark say they have discovered the more contagious coronavirus strain that first emerged in South Africa in test specimens of people arriving from Tanzania.
Within Tanzania, the Catholic Church, of which Mr. Magufuli is a member, a recent increase in symptoms and deaths of the Covid-19 type. In a letter dated January 26, Bishop Gervas Nyaisonga, head of the Episcopal Conference of Tanzania, called on his fellow bishops to give leaders to the congregations in the fight against the disease.
“We need to start acting immediately at the earliest symptoms and avoid stressful places,” he said. Other church leaders say they are overwhelmed by an increase in mass needs to pray for the dead.
Mr. Magufui said at a press conference last week that supporters should not accept that they are being used as ‘guinea pigs’ for Western vaccine producers. Without providing evidence, he claims that some Tanzanians returned with new coronavirus spots after traveling abroad to be vaccinated.
‘Those vaccines do not work; they are not good, ”says mr. Magufuli, who won a second term in contested elections last year. “Tanzanians need to be careful with these imported things.”
The remark of mr. Magufuli was led hours later by the WHO, which called on Tanzania to prepare for a vaccination campaign, encourage the wearing of masks and share data on coronavirus infections.
Opposition politicians also demanded that the government work with other African countries to secure vaccinations for their citizens.
“What we as a country need is coronavirus vaccines, not reckless talk,” said Zitto Kabwe, leader of the opposition party Alliance for Change and Transparency. “These kinds of conversations have already led to massive deaths.”
Write to Nicholas Bariyo by [email protected]
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