Tanzania has increased centers for COVID-19 vaccination from 550 to 1,548 to enable people to get the jabs en masse, a senior official said on Sunday.

Gerson Msigwa, Tanzania's government chief spokesperson, said preliminary reports indicated that more people were turning up in the vaccination centers to get the jabs.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive in July and assured citizens in the East African nation that the vaccines against the pandemic are safe.

Mass vaccinations against the pandemic started on August 3 in 550 centers initially set by the government in mainland Tanzania's 26 regions after the country received over one million COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility arrangement.

Addressing his weekly news conference in the capital Dodoma, Msigwa said at least 350,000 people have been vaccinated against the pandemic until now.

Msigwa said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved 567.25 million US dollars in emergency financial assistance to support Tanzania's efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by addressing the urgent health, humanitarian, and economic costs.

He said some of the funds will also be used to construct a plant for making vaccines, including vaccines for COVID-19.