“Urging # Tanzania to step up public health measures, such as wearing masks to fight # COVID19. Science shows that #VaccinesWork and I encourage the government to prepare for a COVID vaccination campaign,” said the Regional Director WHO for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, on January 28, following President John Magufuli’s comments the day before. “WHO is here to support the government and people of Tanzania,” added Moeti.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed Moeti’s comments, saying “I join @MoetiTshidi’s request for strong health measures and preparedness for the # COVID19 vaccine. Sharing data across # Tanzania is also critical, with cases arising between travelers and visitors over the months “
President Magufuli, who was re-elected in a disputed October 2020 election, has minimized the virus and told the health ministry not to rush to buy vaccines.
“There are some of our Tanzanian companions who recently traveled abroad in search of corona vaccines, they are the ones who brought corona in our country after returning,” said Magufuli at an event on January 27. “My Tanzanian comrades, let’s be strong, some of these vaccines are not good for us.”
“I really urged 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 intentions for our nation, it is important that we, Tanzanians, be very careful with some of these vaccines imported into our country “, he said.
“We need to put our God first, but at the same time take all necessary measures, precautionary health measures to protect us against this disease, as advised by health experts in our country,” said Magufuli. “We (Tanzanians) live almost a year without the virus and good evidence is that most of us here don’t mask,” he added.
During a press conference on Monday (February 1), Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima did not say when the country would start receiving vaccines, but reiterated the hygiene practices suggested by the government, which include drinking plenty of water and taking local herbs, which the government claims, without evidence, can fight the virus.
Tanzania has not updated its Covid-19 data since late April, leaving the last 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 dealing with 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 operates with a strong coordination of the African Union (AU). Our position is clear, that we have to express unity of purpose to succeed as a continent, ”said Nkengasong.
“Tanzania is a great country, it has been a great country in Africa preaching and promoting the values of unity on the continent,” he said. “Therefore, great cooperation and great solidarity and a great sense of unity of purpose in Tanzania are highly valued at this critical time in our history.”
CNN’s Brent Swails and a CNN source in Tanzania contributed to this report.