KIGALI, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda will start administering COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents aged between 12 and 18, the Rwandan health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
In order to intensify preventive measures against COVID-19 in Rwanda, the government will on Tuesday start vaccinating adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years of age, said the statement.
The vaccination exercise will begin in the capital city Kigali and later expand to other areas countrywide, it added.
Legal consent for vaccination of the adolescents will be signed by their parents or guardians, according to the statement.
"The expansion of vaccination to this age group will strengthen our fight against COVID-19 in our country," Rwandan State Minister in charge of Primary Healthcare, Tharcisse Mpunga told Xinhua in a telephone interview on Sunday.
He added that all adolescents in this age group are encouraged to go for vaccination.
Mpunga said the country has so far managed to fully vaccinate a total of 2,917,604 people and more than five million people have so far received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Enditem