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NAIROBI (Reuters) – The United States on Friday urged vaccine-skeptical Tanzania to examine evidence on the drugs, saying they work and are one of the tools to fight the COVID-19 pandemic .
US Ambassador to Tanzania Don Wright said he was encouraged that authorities had recently recognized COVID-19 as a public health priority and called on Tanzanians to take basic precautions to fend off the virus.
In a statement, he urged the government to start sharing data on tests and cases “to find out if response measures are having the intended impact,” and said the government should use vaccines as a tool against -coronavirus.
“There is no doubt that a mass vaccination campaign will save lives,” he said. “I urge the government of Tanzania to summon its health experts and examine the evidence on vaccines.”
President John Magufuli has been one of the world’s most skeptical leaders of efforts to fight the pandemic. He also cast doubt on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, saying last month that they “are not good. If they were, then the white man would have brought vaccines against HIV / AIDS ”.
His government has said it has no plans to import vaccines.
Last week, the death of a senior politician who tested positive for COVID-19 added to concern about a hidden epidemic raging in the East African country.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday urged Tanzania to strengthen public health measures, prepare to distribute vaccines and start reporting coronavirus cases and sharing data .
The government stopped publishing coronavirus statistics last May, when it had recorded 509 cases and 21 deaths.
On February 10, the United States Embassy said Tanzania was experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases and its health facilities could be quickly overwhelmed.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Health pleaded with citizens to take precautions against COVID-19, including wearing face masks, avoiding unnecessary public gatherings and washing their hands.
(Reporting from Nairobi Newsroom; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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