Blockades avoided by Tanzania. It is now rejecting Covid-19 vaccines.

This week, Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima said the country had no intention of importing Covid-19 vaccines, including free doses that it could obtain from the global Covax initiative, which aims to provide vaccines to poor and middle-income countries.

“We are still not convinced that these vaccines have been clinically proven to be safe,” Gwajima said at a news conference, accompanied by unguarded government health officials.

The only other African countries that have chosen to forgo free Covax vaccines are Burundi, Eritrea and the island of Madagascar, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which manages the initiative with WHO. Other Covid-19 deniers, such as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – who last spring called the coronavirus a “psychosis” that could be combated with vodka, saunas and tractors – have since accepted vaccines.

During her conference, Dr. Gwajima, a doctor with a master’s degree in public health, displayed several trays with local herbs that she said could be used to make anti-virus drugs. She urged Tanzanians to use steam, along with hand sanitizers and hand washing, to prevent disease.

“We had better continue to use the traditional remedies that have been with us for generations,” she said. “We ask our neighboring countries to learn how we deal with Covid-19. We must be a good role model for them. “

Tanzania’s neighbors tell a different story. Officials in Uganda and Zambia say they are seeing a large number of Tanzanian travelers test positive when trying to cross the border. Rwanda denies the entry of Tanzanian truck drivers. Countries as far away as Denmark say they have detected the most contagious strain of coronavirus, which first appeared in South Africa in test samples from people arriving from Tanzania.

Within Tanzania, a recent increase in symptoms and Covid-19-type deaths has alarmed the Catholic Church, of which Mr. Magufuli is a member. In a letter of 26 January, the head of the Tanzanian Episcopal Conference, Bishop Gervas Nyaisonga, urged his fellow bishops to provide guidance to congregants in combating the disease.

“We should start acting immediately on the first symptoms and avoid crowded places,” he said. Other church leaders say they have been oppressed by an increase in requiem masses to pray for the dead.

At a packed rally last week, Magufui told supporters not to accept being used as “guinea pigs” by Western vaccine manufacturers. Without providing evidence, he said that some Tanzanians returned with new patches of coronavirus after traveling abroad to be vaccinated.

“These vaccines don’t work; they are not good, ”said Magufuli, who won a second term in elections held last year. “Tanzanians must be careful about these imported things.”

Magufuli’s comments were countered hours later by the WHO, which urged Tanzania to prepare for a vaccination campaign, encourage the use of masks and share data on coronavirus infections.

Opposition politicians also demanded that the government join other African nations in an attempt to secure vaccines for their citizens.

“What we need as a country is coronavirus vaccines, not reckless talk,” said Zitto Kabwe, head of the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency party. “This type of conversation has already led to mass deaths.”

Write to Nicholas Bariyo at [email protected]