What Covid-19 vaccine will Tanzania take?

Tanzania has taken a new path in the fight against the novel coronavirus since President Samia Suluhu Hassan took the oath of office and she has since promised a complete turnaround in the management of the pandemic.

Already as she had promised in one of her early days, a committee has been set up, one that will advise the presidency on the new approach guided by scientific findings on the virus which is constantly mutating.

Many expect that as part of the president’s address to the national assembly on April 22, she is likely to give the findings of the committee, for the fight against covid-19 is a matter of urgency.

Experts expect drastic changes in the management of the pandemic which first hit the country on March 18 2020 when the first victim was announced in Arusha.

The last time Tanzania released data on Covid-19 was almost a year ago and the official figures by the ministry of health, as presented at the WHO to date, suggests that there are only some 509 cases.

This was the time when the virus which first broke out in China was ravaging economies bringing societies to a grinding halt, with many going into lockdowns.

There are several containment measures that were advocated in the early days of the spread of the virus which though still necessary, are just out of question for Tanzania.

For example, even with the call for taking precautionary measures being advocated by authorities, social distancing which is one of the key components in the fight against the pandemic has never been practised and cannot work now.

The jab

This leaves the only viable option for now being vaccination but the question that comes to the forefront is which vaccine suits Tanzania’s case.

Taking the jab is not out of choice but a must because in the near future it is going to become a must for whoever wishes to travel outside their countries – the Covid passport.

It could  be a long road to fully vaccinate the entire Tanzanian population but as it stands there are not many choices.

The fight against COVID-19 has seen vaccine development move at record speed, with more than 170 different vaccines in trials.

There are more vaccine candidates simultaneously in the pipeline for COVID-19 than ever before for an infectious disease. All of them are trying to achieve the same thing – immunity to the virus, and some might also be able to stop transmission.

Several COVID-19 vaccines have been now been granted emergency use authorization with almost, having demonstrated that they are both safe and effective.

Now that some countries like Israel are getting over the first hurdle of vaccine delivery and millions of people around the world have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the big question now is how long that immunity will last?

Because of this, it has been too soon to say exactly how long these COVID-19 vaccines will protect people for, and whether we might need a booster shot further down the line. However, now the first evidence is emerging, apart from the scepticism, almost each of the vaccines has had a side effect or two among those who have taken the jab.

Some vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen has been suspended in the US, whereas the widely used AstraZeneca has had diverse side effects forcing some countries to abandon it completely.

Sputnik V vaccine on the other hand has demonstrated efficacy of 97.6 percent, based on the analysis of data on the infection rate of coronavirus among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of the Vaccine.

There is plenty at stake, as precedent shows the fight against this killer virus has not gone without Africa’s old pet-peeve, corruption given the kind of money that is required in the purchase of the PPE and even the drugs.

As we wait for the wise men and women to make the right choices on our behalf, just like elsewhere, there are some who have already profited and some waiting in the wings to become the so-called Covid billionaires.