Tanzania does not plan to procure Covid-19 vaccine

DODOMA, Tanzania

The Tanzania’s Minister of Health, Social Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dorothy Gwajima has on Monday said the ministry does not have plans of procuring the Covid-19 vaccine which is already in use in other countries.

Gwajima prepares to undergo the herbal steaming which is believed to be a remedy to infectious diseases including respiratory infections

“The ministry has its own procedure on how to receive any medicines and we do so after we have satisfied ourselves with the product,” she said.

Her statement comes a week after Tanzania’s President John Magufuli warned the ministry of foreign vaccines which he said had other motives behind.

The President claimed that vaccinations against COVID-19 are dangerous and instead urged Tanzanians to protect themselves from the deadly disease by using domestic measures including steam inhalation.

Also at the news briefing Gwajima called upon private, religious and political institutions to refrain from providing health information that does not follow the ministry's guidelines.

"We have guidelines, because once these institutions provide such information, it brings shock. All these institutions we want to stop providing any information or make decisions." She said.

She did not elaborate on what decision that the institutions should make.

In another development, the health minister, urged Tanzanians to improve their personal hygiene and environment by washing their hands using running water and soap, steaming and the use of 'sanitizer'.

Gwajima made the remarks on Monday, February 1, 2021 in Dodoma while delivering her statement following reports of an outbreak of a second wave of Covid-19 in a neighboring country which she did not specify.

She said the Ministry is reminding citizens to focus on the guidelines provided by health professionals in the past.

"We must improve our personal hygiene, wash hands with running water and soap, use handkerchiefs, herbal steam, exercise, eat nutritious food, drink plenty of water, and natural remedies that our nation is endowed with because we have quite many of these  natural remedies, ”said the minister.

She added: “Through the Chief Government Chemist, the Ministry has been working to inspect a number of natural remedies that have met the safety standards for use, are already in use and they have helped Tanzanians, including me and my family."

Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting a potential resurgence of infections, the country does not have official figures to indicate how widespread it might be, as the health ministry stopped releasing regular updates on COVID statistics last April 2020.

Tanzania reported 509 COVID-19 infections and 21 deaths in total, according to World Health Organization data.