The World Health Organisation has commended Rwanda’s vaccination drive, after the country reached the September global target which is fully vaccinating 10 percent of its population against Covid-19. Dr Salla Ndoungou Ba, the interim WHO representative in Rwanda hailed the government of Rwanda for the sustained effort to protect citizens from the virus. “Rwanda has been a model of good practice in the region since the beginning of its vaccination programme in March,” he said. “So, I am delighted at this significant achievement”. According to the World Health Organisation, Rwanda has received 3.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The Covax facility contributed 1.1 million whereas 108,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were from the Africa Centers for Disease Control’s Africa vaccine acquisition trust and 2.1 million from bilateral agreements. Of these, says WHO, it has administered 3.3 million doses and fully vaccinated 10 percent of its 13 million people. The UN agency says that Rwanda rolled out its vaccination drive smoothly with Minimal Hesitancy and all means were explored to reach as many people as possible. “Rwanda is committed to reach all targeted groups and to make this happen, vaccine distribution has been facilitated by air, road and water, allowing a simultaneous vaccination roll-out country wide,” read a communique from WHO. This global body also documents that as the vaccine supply declined in Africa from April to June, the government of Rwanda engaged with vaccine manufacturers to access more vaccine doses through bilateral agreements while continuing its engagement with the COVAX facility. The strong leadership and good governance observed in Rwanda, added the UN agency, have been the foundation and driving force behind innovations and successes. In May 2021, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus set the global target of 10 percent of the population for all countries to be inoculated by the end of September, 40 percent by December and 70 percent by Mid-2022. Over 90 percent of high-income countries have reached the 10 percent target while more than 70 percent have reached the 40 percent target. Only 14 African countries have achieved the first target and three countries have achieved the 40 percent target.
