By Jean d’Amour Mbonyinshuti
Rwanda has announced that the second round of vaccination exercise against COVID-19 pandemic starts today countrywide starting from those who received the Pfizer vaccine.
Rwanda launched the vaccination drive early in March administering both Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Both vaccines require two doses for beneficiaries to gain enough immunity in their bodies according to health experts.
About 400,000 Rwandans in different categories of age and employment received the first dose of vaccine and await the second one.
For those receiving Pfizer, the exercise started on Friday 2 April 2021 and will go on up to 21 April 2021 while the date for AstraZeneca vaccine is yet to be announced.
According to the statement from Rwanda Biomedical Centre those who received the first dose should ensure they receive the second one if they are to gain immunity.
“It is very important to take two doses of the vaccine in different periods to ensure the body has enough immunity,” it reads.
It added that for AstraZeneca vaccine, it takes between 8 and 12 weeks to have the second dose while for Pfizer it takes between 21 and 28 days
“We would like to remind that whoever receives the second dose of the vaccine should keep respecting measure in place to fight COVID-19 pandemic including the proper wearing of facemasks, social distancing, avoiding gatherings and regular handwashing,” it added.
Rwanda has recorded 21, 918 positive cases including 1302 active cases and 308 deaths since Mid March 2019 when it recorded the first case of COVID-19.
