KIGALI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Rwandan health official on Thursday said Rwanda has addressed the challenge of storing COVID-19 vaccines at low temperatures and has capacity to store about 300,000 vaccine doses.

"Currently we have no storage challenge for vaccines," Hassan Sibomana, head of Rwanda Biomedical Center's vaccination unit, told the national broadcaster Rwanda Television.

Five new ultra-cold freezers were purchased while other equipment to be used to transport the vaccines to different parts of the country are also ready, he said, adding that the government takes vaccine safety a priority to avoid any side effects on vaccinated people and have established a specialized and experienced team in charge of vaccine storage.

The official said that Rwanda expects to receive its first vaccines in March and aims to launch vaccination for the primary beneficiaries around April 1.

Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of Rwanda Biomedical Center, confirmed with Xinhua that the five freezers can store vaccines at temperature below minus 80 degrees Celsius and will help Rwanda to accommodate any type of vaccine conditions.

Rwanda on Thursday reported 194 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, breaking the previous record of 172 registered on Jan. 4.

The central African nation has recorded a total of 10,316 COVID-19 cases with 6,974 recoveries and 133 deaths. Enditem

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