Rwanda became one of the few African nations offering coronavirus-vaccine booster doses on Tuesday, according to the nation's Ministry of Health.
The shots will be administered to people 50 years old and above, as well as those as young as 30 years, but with non-communicable diseases, the ministry said in a statement. The exercise begins from the capital, Kigali.
Rwanda joins African nations, including Seychelles, Mauritius and South Africa, that are administering booster shots to various categories of people such as the elderly and health-care workers.
Nations across the world are quickly moving to give additional doses amid new Covid-19 variants, including the recent Omicron that was first detected in southern Africa. That's even as most people in Africa remain unvaccinated, partly because of inadequate supplies, hesitancy and logistical challenges.
Rwanda has vaccinated about 9.3 million people, of which 3.4 million are fully inoculated as of Nov. 29, according to the health ministry. The East African nation of approximately 12 million people targets to vaccinate 60% of its population by June 2022.
Mauritius to Become Second African Nation to Offer Booster Shots
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