Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has said it is not contemplating introducing the Covid-19 Booster Vaccination Programme because the country is yet to detect any case of Omicron variant which is spreading at an unprecedented rate across the world.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Professor Abel Makubi (pictured) told a news conference in Dodoma yesterday that Tanzania was still battling a few cases of Covid-19 pandemic, insisting that “so far we have not registered the new variant, Omicron, in the country.” Prof Makubi said Tanzania’s National Laboratory is researching the virus’s genetic mutation and once detected it will be made public.
“Let the public not worry but keep on observing precautionary measures, including washing hands with soap and running water, wearing face marks, and avoiding unnecessary gatherings.
Tanzania, like any other country, continues ensuring that the health of all the people is fine,” he said. The PS was speaking ahead of the official launching of the second integrated and fast plan for combating Covid-19 pandemic.
The official launching according to Prof Makubi will be done in Arusha on December 22. According to Prof Makubi, Arusha was on the lead to people who have so far received Covid-19 vaccination.
“Arusha is the centre for tourism in the country and the region which has done well in the vaccination campaign that is why we want to launch our campaign in that region,” he said.
Currently, the world is battling the fourth wave of Omicron, the virus variant which is spreading faster with minimal symptoms of Covid-19 pandemic, according to experts. Research is being intensified to determine whether Omicron is fueling the surge in cases seen in Africa.
Emerging data from South Africa indicates that Omicron may cause less severe illness.
Africa currently accounts for 46% of the nearly 1000 Omicron cases reported by 57 countries across different regions of the world. So far, 10 African countries have reported cases.
Despite the widespread global presence of Omicron, more than 70 countries have imposed travel bans that are mainly targeting southern African countries – some of which have yet to report any Omicron case, including Tanzania.
To ramp up the response to the Omicron variant and the rise in cases, WHO is supporting countries to improve genomic surveillance to track the virus and detect other potential variants of concern.
Africa has so far received more than 372 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and administered 248 million.
According to Prof Makubi, as of yesterday, Tanzania had vaccinated about 1,275,795 people, an equivalent of 2.2 percent of the e country’s eligible population for the jab.
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