COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Begins in Rwanda

Rwanda’s Health Ministry updated their health system to include COVID-19 management, which will likely aid the distribution of the country’s newly-ordered COVID-19 vaccines. (Jacobin)

Rwanda now stands as the sixth African country to receive a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines. The first batch arrived on February 15 and has been allocated to the most vulnerable individuals.

The first African countries to roll out COVID-19 vaccines were Guinea in December 2020, which inoculated only 25 government officials; Seychelles, the first Sub-Saharan country to start a national vaccination program; Mauritius, which began vaccinating frontline workers on January 26; Morocco, which began vaccinating people on January 28; and South Africa, which acquired its first million doses on February 1.

Rwanda has received one thousand of the total million vaccines that it purchased in late January. These vaccines have been reserved for healthcare workers and will not cost them anything. The government may change this policy when it comes time to inoculate the general public.

Although Moderna developed this particular batch of vaccinations, Rwanda expects to receive almost a million doses from AstraZeneca and 1.25 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech by the end of March. 

COVAX, which will cover expenses for 20 percent of Rwanda’s vaccines, aims to “accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.” Currently, COVAX will only cover up to 20 percent of costs for any given county. The Rwandan government purchased all of the vaccines that arrived this week through COVAX’s international facility. UNICEF, which has delivered vaccines during health crises for decades, will be mostly responsible for the distribution of the COVAX product. Rwanda aims to vaccinate 20 percent of the population by year’s end, representing more than 2.5 million people. The Rwandan government hopes to have 60 percent of its population inoculated by the end of 2022.