TANZANIA yesterday rolled out its countrywide second integrated and fast plan for combating the Covid-19 pandemic campaign, which aims to attain a target of vaccinating 60 per cent of the country’s population in the next two years.
“Through the campaign we intend to vaccinate around 80,000 and 100,000 individuals daily from its previous campaign target of 20,000 to 40,000 people,” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Prof Abel Makubi, said at the official launch of the vaccination campaign in Arusha, yesterday.
Prof Makubi said the program will be scaled top-down through the coordination of leaders in the regions, councils, streets, villages, and hamlets level to bring the service closer to the Based on this, he said each region will need to inoculate at least 4,000 and 5,000 individuals on a daily basis, giving room for the country to arrive at the anticipated 60 per cent target.
The PS revealed that the target was attainable as 70 per cent of the people within the country have expressed interest to receive the Covid-19 jabs.
In strengthening the vaccination drive, he said they have increased the number of vaccination centers from the previous 6,784 up to around 8,000 centers.
The move will also involve allocating different vaccination points around the streets as well as moving from house to house to raise awareness on the advantages of the vaccines.
In addition to receiving the vaccine, the PS noted that, an individual will be able to access other diagnostic services, including cervical cancer, blood pressure, diabetes among other noncommunicable diseases, and get advice with regard to their conditions free of charge.
Prof Makubi observed that the first phase of the campaign which was held in September, this year had proved a success as it made it possible for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines to be completed within the set timeframe.
By December 18, this year the country had received over 4.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and a total of 1.27 millions people have fully been vaccinated which is equivalent to 2.21 per cent of all Tanzanians.
“The government has the best intentions for its people. This is why we are pushing for people to be vaccinated taking into account the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
“Once the disease affects a lot of people and this is why we are encouraging them to take the vaccines to reduce the severity of the problem,” stated the PS.
He was of the view that the program’s success required ownership among the public and the process to be sustainable for the country to achieve its intended goals.
On her part, Health Minister Dr Dorothy Gwajima noted that the 4,421,540 Covid-19 vaccine doses which have been received so far have massively boosted the country’s fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
“At least 2.1 million doses equivalent to 50 per cent of the vaccines imported to the country’s have been used… although the vaccination trend is good, we still have a long way to go to arrive at the 60 per cent target,” said Dr Gwajima.
She noted that the country has recorded a growing trend of infections in the samples taken by the diagnostic centers, noting that the situation is even worse between the end and beginning of the year.
Due to this recorded trend, the Minister underscored the various precautionary alerts the government has been taking to ensure its people are safe including encouraging people to be vaccinated.
“As the PS noted by December 18, a total of 28,214 people had been confirmed with Covid-19 and over 700 people had lost their lives to the disease.
“The statistics involve only those people whose samples have been taken. We don’t know for those who did not go through any diagnosis,” she said.
The minister warned against laxity by some individuals to take precautionary measures, saying their acts were contributing to the growing trend of infections within the country.
She, however, noted that research conducted by the country with regard to the disease discovered that out of 10 patients who were admitted due to Covid-19 eight had not been vaccinated and only two had received the jab.
On the other hand, out of 10 patients who die of Covid-19 seven are those who have not been inoculated and three have received the jabs and were overwhelmed with other diseases including old age.
She stressed that there is no doubt that the benefits of taking the vaccines outweigh those that have not taken the vaccines.
Similarly, Dr Gwajima cautioned the public against growing speculations and misinformation on the new variant Omicron, maintaining that relevant authority does tracking of each and everything they will give credible information when the time comes.
“All Tanzanians should collaborate with government organs and experts to arrive at the set goal of vaccination… engage NGOs in the process,” She maintained.