Burundi nods to COVID-19 Vaccine

Burundi is finally changing its notion towards Covid vaccination.

The country which was among those that had not yet begun the Covid vaccination campaign is set to receive covid vaccines from the World Bank.

According to the health minister Dr. Thaddee Ndikumana, the World Bank offered to give the country Covid vaccines which they have decided not to reject.

However, the country has no plans of influencing its citizens in any manner to get vaccinated.

The minister said that those who want to get vaccinated will have to look for the vaccines.

The move by Burundi comes barely a day after Tanzania launched the Covid vaccination campaign.

On Wednesday Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan received the jab.

Tanzania, Eritrea, and Burundi were the three African countries that had not considered ordering for covid vaccines.

However in June this year, Tanzania joined the global scheme of sharing vaccines, COVAX which saw the country receive over a million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine last weekend.

Authorities in Burundi have for a long time failed to acknowledge the Covid vaccines and expressed their fears on whether they would actually work in preventing people from getting infected by a coronavirus.

As a result, the country has not made any move to order Covid vaccines.

Earlier, the government said it was observing the success of the vaccines from other countries before it could finally order some for the people of Burundi.

During a press conference on Wednesday evening, the minister confirmed that the Covid positivity rate had increased in northern districts that border Rwanda and also in the capital city, Bujumbura.

Due to the rise of Covid cases, Dr. Thadee said that they will open health centers in affected provinces.

The health ministry in Burundi has reported close to 6,000 Covid cases since the first case was discovered in the country in March 2020.