The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Anifa Kawooya has asked leaders in Acholi sub-region to rally the masses to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The minister says misinformation on the efficacy and alleged dangers of the Covid-19 vaccine remains a big hurdle for vaccine uptake in the region, limiting the government’s progress in fully vaccinating citizens.
While officiating the launch of the second phase of the mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign for the Acholi sub-region in Gulu city on Friday, Kawooya said leaders have the noble cause to dispel misinformation against the Covid-19 vaccines to their people.
The mass vaccination exercise will be conducted in the eight districts of Gulu, Omoro, Nwoya, Amuru, Agago, Pader, Kitgum, and Lamwo.
Kawooya said it is unrealistic for people to spread wrong information on the Covid-19 vaccine yet several other vaccines have been used and continue to be used by the government to save the lives of children and adults.
She notes that the health ministry expects the locals to embrace the second phase of the mass Covid-19 vaccination to ease the fight against Covid-19 in the country.
The health ministry launched the first phase of the mass Covid-19 vaccination drive in the region in November last year and had targeted to vaccinate about 900,000 individuals.
Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the National Vaccination Commander and Director of Health Services in charge of public health says the mass vaccination campaign targets were not met.
He notes that out of the eight districts, only about five performed fairly while three that include Gulu, Amuru, and Nwoya poorly performed in the vaccination drive.
For instance, Gulu district and Gulu city got 165,000 doses of vaccines, and only 45 percent of the doses were utilized while in Nwoya only 58,000 people out of the targeted 128,000 were vaccinated.
In Amuru district, vaccination performance stood at only 43 percent despite receiving a total of 110,000 doses of covid-19 vaccines.
Dr. Kyabayinze says the district health departments in the region must triple their efforts in terms of ensuring that many people are vaccinated.
He notes that through the second phase of the mass vaccination campaign that will be rolled in all the 14 regions across the country, the health ministry expects to hit the target of vaccinating 22 million Ugandans above 18 years.
Dr. Kyabayinze called on the locals to voluntarily accept the vaccine to ease the government’s efforts against fighting Covid-19.
Dr. James Elima, the Director Gulu Regional Referral Hospital reiterated that many people in the region are still skeptical to receive the Covid-19 vaccine due to misinformation spread in the community.
Dr. Elima says although the Covid-19 wave has gone down, cases of Covid-19 continue to be registered in the region adding that the hospital currently has seven patients in critical but stable conditions in the Intensive Care Unit.
A total of 230 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in Gulu district since March 2020 when the outbreak was registered.
According to reports from the health department, the district had registered 134 new cases of Covid-19 as of March 8 this year with the cumulative positive cases hitting 138,920.
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