The President of the European Union Council, Charles Michel, and the Secretary-General of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, on Sunday, March 7 graced a Covid-19 vaccination exercise at Mayange Health Centre in Bugesera, as Rwanda continues its nationwide inoculation drive. The visit came on the same day the officials were welcomed by President Paul Kagame in the country. PHOTOS: President #Kagame today, at Village Urugwiro, received Charles Michel, European Council President, @OIFrancophonie Secretary General, Louise Mushikiwabo and Member of European Parliament @CZacharopoulou who are on a visit to #Rwanda. 📸: @UrugwiroVillage pic.twitter.com/so9Qk7wmqW — The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) March 7, 2021 At Mayange Health Centre, the officials were joined by the Minister of Health Dr Daniel Ngamije as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Biruta among other high-ranked officials. Also present was Chrysoula Zacharopolou, a member of the European Parliament, who joined the health Centre’s staff in administering vaccines. Mayange Health Centre is one of the 508 health centers where vaccination exercise is taking place. In Rwanda, the vaccination drive has given priority to healthcare workers, essential workers and elderly citizens. “Proud to witness the inoculation of the first anti-Covid19 vaccines brought by Covax. The EU is one of the main contributors to this international solidarity initiative. Nobody will be safe until everybody is.” Charles Michel said. Last week, Rwanda received about 340,000 Covid-19 shots, making it one of the countries that have so far received doses of the Covid-19 vaccine through the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative. According to Minister Ngamije, the country is expecting about 500,000 more jabs this week, from the facility. The COVAX initiative has also facilitated the delivery of vaccines to other African countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. “As Team Europe, we are happy to join with Rwanda to witness the arrival of the first Covid-19 vaccines through Covax. The European Union is committed to ensuring universal access to vaccines, in line with the guiding European values of solidarity and equity,” said EU Ambassador to Rwanda, Nicola Bellomo in a reference to Covax shipment arriving last week. He added, “Europe is also one of the leading contributors to Covax, with over €2.2 billion. We commend the Government of Rwanda for the preparatory work that allowed Rwanda to be amongst the first recipients of the Covid-19 vaccines”. Mushikiwabo echoed the same sentiments, citing that the country had demonstrated high-level of preparedness to commence inoculation. Ngamije noted that nearly 160,000 Rwanda citizens, including himself, had received the jab so far. He reiterated that the government is aiming to vaccinate 60 percent of the country’s population by 2022. By Sunday afternoon, Rwanda had reported 19,509 confirmed infections with a total 267 deaths.
