Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) has been chosen by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to serve as part of a network of Centres of Excellence for Covid-19 vaccination on the continent. According to a statement from Africa CDC, RBC alongside Morocco’s Institut Pasteur have demonstrated efficiency in Covid-19 vaccination rollout in their respective countries. “For instance, Morocco has vaccinated more than 80 per cent of its targeted population. Rwanda has immunized about 25 per cent of its eligible population and aims to achieve a 40 per cent coverage by the end of 2021,” the statement reads. The centres of excellence are expected to provide capacity building services to professionals from different member states across Africa and share best practices on management of vaccination centres, logistics of vaccine distribution, and community engagement and risk communication. Speaking about the development, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s Minister of Health, said the country looks forward to working with other African countries, sharing experiences and technical support. “We expect to attain 40 per cent of targeted persons by December 2021 and are looking forward to working closely with other African countries to share our experiences so far, as well as offer technical assistance to others if necessary,” he said. Currently, more than 3.8 million people in Rwanda have received at least the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. More than 2 million of these have received two shots of the vaccine. Rwanda’s target is to vaccinate at least a third of its population by the end of the year, rising to 60 per cent next year. Professor Maaroufi Abderrahmane, Director of the Institut Pasteur of Morocco said: “We are very excited that Morocco is part of this network of Africa CDC Centres of Excellence for Covid-19 vaccination and share Morocco’s experience and offer technical assistance if requested with other AU member states.” Africa has vaccinated only about 5 per cent of its population with Covid-19 vaccine and a 70 per cent coverage target has been set by the World Health Organisation to bring the pandemic under control. As part of a partnership between the Africa CDC and Mastercard Foundation on saving lives and livelihood, 20 African Union member states representatives, implementing partners, and other international organisations will be meeting in Morocco later this month to share Morocco’s experiences. A similar exercise involving additional AU member states will be carried out at the RBC in early December. Africa CDC expressed African Union Commission’s appreciation to the government and people of the Kingdom of Morocco and Rwanda for accepting to serve as part of the Africa CDC’s developing network of Centres of Excellence for Covid-19 vaccination.
