Tanzania's president expresses doubts about COVID vaccines
Tanzania’s president is openly expressing doubt about COVID-19 vaccines and accusing people who were vaccinated outside the East African nation of bringing new infections into the country
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tanzania’s president on Wednesday openly expressed doubt about COVID-19 vaccines and accusing people who were vaccinated outside the East African nation of bringing new infections into the country.
"If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found,” President John Magufuli said during an event in his hometown of Chato, in the Gieta region of northwestern Tanzania near Lake Victoria.
He also warned against Tanzanians being used as “guinea pigs” for the vaccines.
Magufuli, who offered no evidence to support his doubts, has been widely criticized for declaring the coronavirus defeated in Tanzania. The country hasn't updated its number of confirmed infections since the middle of last year: 509.
But now other authorities in the country, including the Catholic church, appear to be pushing back as parts of the African continent see a strong second surge in virus infections.
Magufuli also suggested that donated vaccines are part of a conspiracy to steal Africa's wealth: “Don’t think you are loved so much. Tanzania is rich. Africa is rich. Everyone wants a piece of it."
The president in the past has told Tanzanians not to implement social distancing while encouraging them to use untested herbal remedies to treat the disease. He also questioned the credibility of donated virus tests.
Some people who opposed the government's stance that Tanzania was coronavirus-free were arrested and charged.
Magufuli won a second five-year term in office in an October election which opposition leaders blasted as a “butchering of democracy.”