Rwanda is offering a second booster dose starting with the elderly
The Ministry of Health has published data showing a progressive uptake of the second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
On August 8, 2022, the ministry announced a nationwide campaign to administer a second booster dose starting with high risk groups especially adults above 60 years and others with weak immune systems.
In ten days, 104,704 people received the second booster dose with leading districts in the uptake being Nyamagabe (> 9,300 people) and Bugesera (> 8,800 people).
“We have quite satisfying participation from the targeted population of 60years old and above as well as 50 years old and above, and the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) patientd,” the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
Rwanda also plans to start rolling out vaccination for children between 5 and 11 years old.
This will also be boosted by the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) initiative to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination that was recently launched in Rwanda by the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
In the $1.5 billion partnership, a total of $2 million has been provided to Rwanda to kick start its implementation with a target to reach more than 700.000 citizens.
This initiative also comes along with strengthening the cold chain capacity and bolstering 21 new COVID-19 vaccination centers in the Northern, Southern and Western provinces to ensure COVID-19 vaccine accessibility and equity.
To date, Rwanda has already hit the 70% COVID- 19 vaccination target (with over 8Million having the first dose) required by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
By the end of this year, the country is planning to hit 86% target by end of the year.
