Tanzania has avoided lockdowns. Now it is rejecting Covid-19 vaccines.

This week, Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima said the country had no intention of importing Covid-19 vaccines, including free doses it could get from the global Covax initiative, which aims to deliver shots to poor and middle-income countries.

“We are not yet convinced that those vaccines are clinically proven to be safe,” said Dr. Gwajima at a press conference, flanked by unmasked government health officials.

The only other African countries that have chosen to forgo the free Covax vaccines are Burundi, Eritrea and the island state of Madagascar, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which runs the initiative with WHO. Other early Covid-19 deniers, such as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – who last spring called the coronavirus a “psychosis” that could be controlled with vodka, saunas, and driving tractors – have since accepted vaccines.

At her conference, Dr. Gwajima, a doctor with a master’s degree in public health, various trays of topical herbs that she said could be used to make anti-coronavirus remedies. She urged the Tanzanians to use steam, along with hand sanitizers and hand washing, to prevent the disease.

“It is better that we keep using traditional remedies that have been with us for generations,” she said. “We urge our neighboring countries to learn from how we dealt with Covid-19. We should be a good model for them. “

Tanzania’s neighbors tell a different story. Ugandan and Zambian officials say they see large numbers of Tanzanian travelers test positive when trying to cross the border. Rwanda is denying access to Tanzanian truck drivers. Countries as far away as Denmark say they have discovered the more contagious strain of coronavirus that first showed up in South Africa in test samples from people arriving from Tanzania.

In Tanzania, a recent spike in Covid-19-type symptoms and deaths has alarmed the Catholic Church, of which Mr. Magufuli is a member. In a letter dated January 26, the head of the Bishops’ Conference in Tanzania, Bishop Gervas Nyaisonga, urged fellow bishops to guide congregation members in combating the disease.

“We need to take immediate action at the first symptoms and avoid crowded places,” he said. Other church leaders say they are overwhelmed by an increase in requiem masses to pray for the dead.

At a busy meeting last week, Mr. Magufui told supporters not to accept being used as “guinea pigs” for Western vaccine makers. Without providing evidence, he claimed that some Tanzanians had returned with new coronavirus spots after traveling abroad to get vaccinated.

“Those vaccines don’t work; they are not good, ”said Mr Magufuli, who won a second term in contested elections last year. “Tanzanians have to be careful with these imported things.”

Mr Magufuli’s comments were refuted hours later by the WHO, which urged Tanzania to prepare for a vaccination campaign, encourage the wearing of masks and share data on coronavirus infections.

Opposition politicians also demanded that the government join other African countries to obtain vaccines for their citizens.

“What we need as a country is vaccines against the coronavirus, not reckless talk,” said Zitto Kabwe, head of the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency. “Talk like this has already resulted in massive deaths.”

Write to Nicholas Bariyo at [email protected]