Last Week Tanzanian President Magufuli cautioned the country’s health officials against accepting the COVID-19 vaccines. Magufuli raised this concern, especially as the vaccines were arriving from foreign countries. The President said he believed because less has been done to develop vaccines for diseases like HIV, the COVID vaccine was not real.
“You should stand firm. Vaccinations are dangerous. Suppose the white man was able to come up with the vaccinations. In that case, he should have found a vaccination for Aids by now; he would have found a vaccination for tuberculosis by now, would have found vaccination for malaria by now, he would have found a vaccination for cancer by now,” he said.
He added that Tanzania’s health ministry should know that not every vaccination is meaningful to their nation. They should be careful not to be used as guinea pigs for doubtful vaccinations, resulting in serious health repercussions.
Tanzania’s health ministry makes an Announcement on COVID-19 vaccines.
After the President’s comments, Tanzania’s health ministry announced no plans to acquire any COVID-19 vaccines. The ministry’s head Dorothy Gwajima told a press conference the news in the capital Dodoma. She added that any vaccines entering the country must receive ministry approval before use by the public.
Tanzanians believe their country is COVID-19 free. President Magufuli additionally has severally affirmed that there is not any coronavirus and entirely disregards the thought. In fact, back when the virus first became an outbreak, President Magufuli declared Tanzania COVID free. While countries were rushing about, enforcing stringent measures to contain the virus, Magufuli stayed calm and continued normalcy. He did not impose any curfew, lockdown, masking, or ban any activities.
At that time, Tanzania became a concern for many countries. During a recent Presidential briefing, Magufuli declared that they had lived a whole year without the virus because their God is able and satan would always fail. He concluded that his country members should be careful not to fall victims to experiments. But despite these beliefs, Tanzania is still on the COVAX list of countries expecting vaccines.
Tanzania Still Expecting Doses from COVAX
It is not clear when Tanzania will get its doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX initiative. But in the meantime, the health ministry has encouraged citizens to improve hygiene practices, including sanitizers and steam inhalation. Health experts elsewhere have dismissed steam inhalation, and they say the practice does not work against the coronavirus. But Tanzania’s health minister insisted the practice should continue and still insisted Tanzania is safe. On the other hand, the Chief government chemist of Tanzania Fidelice suggested using herbal medicine to cure COVID-19. Fidelice, however, provided no evidence that the medication could provide positive outcomes.
Countries across the world have greatly criticized Tanzania’s government for its approach to the pandemic. Since April last year, Tanzania has not updated its number of confirmed coronavirus infections. But since then, some Catholic church administrators and government institutions in Tanzania have decided to disagree with the government. Some of these institutions have decided to push back and tell the public and employees that COVID-19 exists in Tanzania and precautions must be taken.
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