“Urging #Tanzania to step up public health measures, such as wearing masks to fight # COVID19. Science shows that #VaccinesWork and I are encouraging the government to prepare for a COVID vaccination campaign,” the WHO director of Africa said. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, on January 28. , following the comments of President John Magufuli the day before. “The WHO is here to support the government and people of Tanzania,” Moeti added.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed Moeti’s comments, saying: “I join @ MoetiTshidi’s call for strong health measures and vaccine preparation # COVID19. The exchange of data by #Tanzania is also essential, with cases occurring among travelers and visitors over the months. ”
President Magufuli, who was re-elected in the October 2020 elections, downplayed the virus and told the health ministry not to rush to buy vaccines.
“There are some of our Tanzanian colleagues who have recently traveled abroad in search of crown vaccines, they are the ones who brought the crown back to our country after their return,” Magufuli said at a January 27 event. “My Tanzanian colleagues, let us stand firm, some of these vaccines are not good for us.”
“I really asked the Ministry of Health to be very, very careful with all the vaccines that are imported into our country, not all vaccines are of good intention for our nation, it is important that we Tanzanians are very careful with some of these vaccines. imported into our country, “he said.
“We must put our God first, but at the same time we take all necessary measures, health precautions to protect ourselves against this disease, as recommended by health experts in our country,” said Magufuli. “We (Tanzanians) have lived without a virus for almost a year and good evidence is that most of us here do not disguise ourselves,” he added.
At a news conference on Monday (February 1st), Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima did not say when the country will start receiving vaccines, but reiterated the government’s suggested hygiene practices, which include drinking plenty of water and take local herbs, which the government claims, without evidence, can fight the virus.
Tanzania has not updated its Covid-19 data since the end of April, leaving the latest number of confirmed cases reported at 509 and the death toll at 21. These are also the latest numbers that Johns Hopkins University has published on its website.
Responding to a question about Tanzania’s approach to treating the pandemic, Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the continent must be united in its response to the virus to be successful.
“Africa works with strong African Union (AU) coordination. Our position is clear that we need to express unity of purpose in order to succeed as a continent,” Nkengasong said.
“Tanzania is a great country, it was a great country in Africa preaching and promoting the values of unity on the continent,” he said. “So great cooperation and solidarity and a great sense of purpose in Tanzania are highly valued at this critical time in our history.”
CNN’s Brent Swails and a Tanzanian CNN source contributed to the report.