COVID-19: Malta to send 135,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Rwanda

Malta will send 135,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to Rwanda.

Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar said on Twitter that the ministry is liaising with Air Malta to send vaccines to Rwanda.

"This shows Malta's commitment to being at the forefront in this global fight against the pandemic. No one is safe until everyone is safe!" Cutajar said.

Back in August, Malta shipped 40,000 vaccines and 40,000 virus test kits to Libya.

Rwanda has fully vaccinated at least 13% of its estimated 12 million people against COVID-19— seven months since the vaccination programme rolled out in the country. 

This exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) global target of immunising 10% of the population of every country by September to contain the pandemic.

On 3 March, the country received the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.