Marios Themistocleous, the General Secretary of the Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health, responsible for the coordination and management of the National vaccination programme in Greece has explained the donation is a result of fruitful bilateral relations.

“This is a testament of friendship and deepened relations between Rwanda and Greece,” he said.

Themistocleous stressed that Greece wants to further strengthen existing ties in the future.

The vaccine doses which arrived at Kigali International Airport on 5th November 2021, are an addition to a donation of 200,000 doses Rwanda secured from the country recently in September.

At the time, Dr. Tharcisse Mpunga, the Minister of State in charge of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health explained that the donation is a result of fruitful cooperation between both countries’ militaries.

He revealed that received doses would be used to increase the number of vaccine recipients in rural areas as the case for Kigali.

Over 4 million have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while more than 2 million are fully vaccinated since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 5th March 2021.

Both countries Foreign Affairs Ministers and senior military officers at the handover of vaccine doses upon arrival in Rwanda.

Greece has donated over 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Rwanda.