Coronavirus in Tanzania: the country that rejects the vaccine

For months, the Tanzanian government has insisted the country is free from Covid-19 – so there is no vaccination plan. The BBC’s Dickens Olewe spoke to a family mourning the death of a husband and father suspected of having contracted the disease. The fear is that in the midst of denial there will be many more unrecognized victims of this highly contagious virus.

A week after Peter – not his real name – came home from work with a dry cough and loss of taste, he was rushed to hospital, where he died within hours. He had not been tested for Covid. But then, according to the Tanzanian government, which has not released data on the coronavirus for months, the country is “free from Covid-19”.

There are few tests and no plans for a vaccination program in this East African country.

It is almost impossible to assess the true extent of the virus and only a small number of people are officially authorized to speak about the problem.

Recent public statements have hinted at a different reality at a time when some citizens, like Peter’s wife, quietly mourn the deaths of family members suspected of having the virus.

Several Tanzanian families have had similar experiences but have chosen not to speak out, fearing reprisals from the government.

The British government has banned all travelers arriving from Tanzania, while the United States has warned against traveling to the country because of the coronavirus.

Vaccine conflict

Since June of last year, when President John Magufuli declared the country “free from Covid-19,” he, along with other senior government officials, mocked the effectiveness of the masks, doubted the effectiveness of the tests and teased neighboring countries that have imposed health measures to curb the virus.

Mr Magufuli also warned – without providing any evidence – that Covid-19 vaccines could be harmful and instead urged Tanzanians to use steam inhalation and herbal remedies, none of which have been approved by the Organization. World Health Organization (WHO) as a treatment.

It is not known why the president expressed such skepticism about vaccines, but he recently said that Tanzanians should not be used as “guinea pigs”.

“If the white man was able to come up with vaccines, he should have found a vaccine for AIDS, cancer and tuberculosis by now,” said Mr. Magufuli, who has often presented himself as an opposition to the western imperialism.

WHO does not agree.

“The vaccines work and I encourage the [Tanzanian] the government must prepare for a vaccination campaign against Covid, ”said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for Africa, adding that the organization was ready to support the country.

But Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima reiterated Mr. Magufuli’s position on vaccines, adding that the ministry has “its own procedure on how to receive the drugs and we do it after we are satisfied with the product.”

She made the comments during a press briefing this week in which an official demonstrated how to make a smoothie using ginger, onions, lemons and pepper – a drink, they said without provide evidence, which would help avoid catching coronavirus.

“We need to improve our personal hygiene, wash our hands with soap and running water, use tissues, herbal steam, exercise, eat nutritious food, drink plenty of water and [use] natural remedies that our nation is blessed with, ”said Dr. Gwajima.

But it wasn’t because the virus was in the country. Tanzanians had to be prepared as the virus was “ravaging” neighboring countries, she said.

Some doctors are skeptical of the government’s position.

“The problem here is that the government is telling Tanzanians that the vegetable mix, which has nutritional benefits, is all they need to keep the coronavirus at bay, which it is not,” said one local doctor speaking anonymously to the BBC, adding that people had to take precautions against the virus.

Dr Gwajima, the president, and three other senior officials are the only ones able to provide information on Covid-19 in the country, according to a directive from Mr Magufuli.

But in an unprecedented move, leaders of the country’s Catholic Church recently broke their silence and warned the public to observe health measures to stem the spread of the virus.

“Covid is not over, Covid is still there. Let’s not be reckless, we must protect ourselves, wash our hands with soap and water. We also have to start wearing masks again, ”said Bishop of Dar es Salaam Yuda Thadei Ruwaichi.

Tanzania Bishops’ Conference secretary Father Charles Kitima told BBC Swahili that the church has noticed an increase in funeral services in urban areas.

“We used to have one or two Requiem Masses per week in the urban parishes, but now we have daily Masses. Something is really wrong, ”he says.

The health minister said the statements were alarmist. The lack of official data makes it difficult to hold an informed public debate.

‘Wear masks – not because of the crown’

But the government is not in total denial as there have been times it seems to acknowledge that the virus could exist in the country.

In January, days after Denmark reported that two of its citizens who had visited Tanzania had tested positive for the more transmissible South African variant of the virus, Mr Magufuli accused Tanzanians traveling abroad of ‘having’ imported a strange new corona ‘.

After visiting two hospitals, Professor Mabula Mchembe, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, said patients with respiratory problems suffered from hypertension, kidney failure or asthma rather than coronavirus.

But a later statement on the Twitter account of the Ministry of Health that “all patients admitted to the hospital do not have corona”, implied that some had the virus.

On Friday, it was reported on the Mwananchi news site that Professor Mchembe was encouraging people to wear masks “not because of the crown, as some believe, but it is to prevent respiratory disease.”

One development that has complicated the government’s position is the public announcement by the opposition ACT Wazalendo party that one of its senior officials, Seif Sharif Hamad, and his wife, had tested positive for the virus.

The government has not publicly commented on Mr Hamad’s condition, nor has it responded to repeated requests for comment from the BBC for this article.

On January 21, the day Peter started to feel bad, Tanzanians were gripped by a story from the northwestern town of Moshi.

Administrators at a well-known international school retracted a statement and apologized for announcing that the school would cease offering in-person learning for one of its groups of years after a student was tested positive for coronavirus.

The retraction came after management met with government officials in the region, the Citizen news site reported.

The school said it regrets the “circulation of false information” and will continue to function normally.

This feeling of going on as if nothing had happened is what the government encouraged, but Peter’s wife is grieved because like other Tanzanians, she and her late husband took no precautions. to protect himself.

Their lack of caution was perhaps not surprising given that the president and other senior government officials have continually emphasized “there is no crown.”