Rwanda pledges free Covid-19 vaccine to citizens

The Rwandan government says it will offer free Covid-19 vaccine to citizens after the country receives the vaccine next year.

Rwandan Health Minister, Daniel Ngamije broke the news in an interview with public broadcaster, Rwanda Television, on Friday.

Also, he said the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be received around March 2021, the News Agency of Nigeria and Xinhua reported.

He noted that the vaccination will be administered to health workers and aged citizens first.

“We will start with health personnel because they are part of people at high risk of being infected, people with comorbidity as well as elderly 65 years and above.

“These are the groups that are priority for getting the vaccine at zero cost,” Ngamije said.

The health ministry is working to ensure it is ready to receive the Covid-19 vaccine when it is rolled out.

While forecasting a good acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine among citizens, the minister said the government was mobilising resources to increase vaccination coverage from 20 per cent to 60 per cent.

Rwanda late Friday reported 79 new COVID-19 cases and 37 fresh recoveries, bringing its national caseload to 6,428 and recoveries to 5,826, with a total of 54 deaths.