President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Sunday reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and encouraged many people to take the jab to protect everyone, especially the most vulnerable. The Head of State said the vaccination would prevent people from getting seriously ill or dying from Coronavirus. "It is one part of managing the disease besides the main preventive measures", she stated.
President Samia said as a leader, she could not endanger the public nor risk her life by introducing something that is harmful to people. President Samia made the call at an occasion to receive to the CECAFA Challenge Cup 2021 trophy as well as athletes who represented the country at the just ended Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the State House in Dar es Salaam, yesterday. She used the occasion to remind public on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, urging the athletes to take the shot so as to fight the deadly virus.
She said it was important for athletes to take the jab because their career involves traveling a lot which put them at the risk of being infected. "Get vaccinated regardless of whether you already had Coronavirus. Evidence is emerging that people get better protection by being vaccinated. Vaccines offer high protection against getting seriously ill and dying from the disease, although no vaccine is 100 percent protective," she urged.
While launching the country's first vaccination campaign in July, this year, President Samia said she would not risk her life or put herself in danger, while knowing that she has so many responsibilities awaiting her. President Samia said she is also a mother, grandmother, and wife, and that as the President, she must lead by example to the masses who are behind her. On July 28th this year, Tanzania launched voluntary COVID-19 vaccination.
The national rollout got underway on August 3, this year. According to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Prof. Abel Makubi, there are 550 public and private healthcare facilities administering vaccination across the country. A total of 1,008,400 vaccines were distributed in 26 regions as of August 14, this year. Tanzania plans to vaccinate 60 percent of its population.
The country received the first consignment of over one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the planned mass rollout. The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines arrived late last month from the United States as part of the COVAX arrangement. To ensure adequate supply and accessibility of the vaccine in the country, President Samia said the Government has placed an added order from the African Union (AU), through Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Tanzania is pondering local manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to reduce importation costs. Prof. Makubi said that the factory would manufacture vaccines for COVID-19 and other diseases. "We have experts. The plan is not only to produce COVID-19 vaccines but also vaccines for other diseases so that even when the pandemic ends, Tanzania will still have the capacity of producing such medicines locally," said Prof. Makubi. He said the Government had no intention of selling vaccines to the public. It would neither allow anyone to import them against procedures.