Reported by
Faridah N Kulumba
Tanzanian Muslims hoping to go for pilgrimage in Mecca this year, are urging authorities to start jabbing fearing missing Hajji due to delay. Saudi Arabia is requiring all pilgrims for the scaled-back, annual Hajj in July to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but vaccination in Tanzania has not yet begun, the VOT reported.
The Tanzanian government has not yet started Covid-19 vaccination due to the fact that the country has been sceptical about the pandemic. Many Muslims in Tanzania wants to go for pilgrimage to the Holy city of Mecca to perform Hajj being the fifth pillar of Islam, but for now only those who are immunized against Covid-19 can take part in this year’s Hajj.
Aboubaker is one of many Muslims who are worried because vaccinations in Tanzania have not been approved. “The time remaining is limited but still, we haven’t given up. We expect our top leaders to check on the issue of vaccination carefully so we can accomplish this holy worship. We failed to go last year because of Covid-19, and if it continues till next year it means our worship has ended. This is the main pillar of our religion,” he said.
Why the delay?
Until earlier this year, Tanzanian authorities had rejected Covid-19 vaccines in the country. Former Tanzanian president Dr John Pombe Magufuli, who suddenly died on March 17, 2021 due to heart condition, denied the presence of Covid-19 in the country and dismissed the vaccines as unproven and risky.
Is Covid-19 presence recognised now?
A few months after President Magufuli’s death of what the opposition leader Tundu Lisu claimed was Covid-19, his successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan recognised the existence of the disease and formed a Covid-19 task force to advise her administration on handling the infractions.
The report which was made by the Covid-19 task force declared the vaccine to be effective, and President Hassan promised to import the vaccine. President Hassan said last week that the government was checking to see if Covid-19 vaccines that are available in other countries can be ordered for Tanzania. However the President of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, last week said his government will soon import Covid-19 vaccines and that he will allow it to be administered in his region.
Will pilgrim be performed this year?
Saudi Arabia is considering barring overseas pilgrims from the annual hajj for the second year running as Covid-19 cases rise globally and worries about the emergence of new variants, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. To Saudi nationals and residents of the kingdom who were vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19 at least months prior to hajj will attend.
While discussions about a possible ban have taken place, there has been no final decision on whether to pursue it, they said. Mr Iddrisu Tahiru a Ghanaian diplomat to Riyadh told Africa-Press that: “We have not yet received any formal communication about hajji from the Kingdom, so it is very difficult to tell whether foreigners will be allowed to Mecca.”
Hajj traveller coordinator with National Muslim Council of Tanzania Haidari Kambwili said: “I cannot say that we can’t accomplish Hajj worship, but the percentages seem to be very low to accomplish the worship,” he said. He added that the remaining percentages only Allah will decide, because even if they get vaccinated time is still a challenge.
With the existence of the new variant, I don’t expect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to accept alien pilgrimage. However it is good that Tanzanian is now on track with the rest of the global community on addressing Covid-19 pandemic through vaccination.