Rwanda begins receiving Johnson & Johnson vaccine

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Rwanda has received the first consignment of 108,000 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses that the government purchased through an African Union pooled procurement mechanism, an official said Thursday.

The single-shot vaccines were received as part of 2.1 million doses that the government purchased through the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), said Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, the director general of Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

The vaccines will be administered in areas with high new infections.

Rwanda last month expanded mass COVID-19 vaccinations targeting adults 18 years and over, with the new doses expected to boost the vaccination campaign.

Earlier in the day, Tharcisse Mpunga, Rwandan Minister of State in Charge of Primary Healthcare, said mass vaccination is expected to help the country reopen the economy.

More than 1.5 million people in the country have received the first dose of a vaccine while 782,834 have received both doses, according to the Health Ministry’s daily updates.

The East African country aims to vaccinate 30% of its population by the end of 2021 and 60% by June 2022.

The government earlier Thursday announced plans to allow concerts, festivals, exhibitions and other events to resume gradually for vaccinated and tested audiences.

As of Sept. 1, Rwanda had registered an accumulated tally of 87,131 COVID-19 cases, with 1,083 fatalities since the outbreak of the virus in the country, according to the World Health Organization.

The AVAT initiative was established as a pooled procurement mechanism for African Union member states to be able to buy enough vaccines for at least 50% of their needs.

AVAT has acquired 400 million vaccines, sufficient to immunize a third of the African population by September next year, at a cost of $3 billion with the support of the World Bank.

AVAT also works closely with the COVAX coalition, which seeks to provide the other 50% through donations.

The goal is to ensure vaccination of at least 60% of the African population with safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19. ​​​​​​​