A little over 13 000 people have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the vast Oshikoto region, while vaccine uptake remains a serious concern.
According to regional health director Joshua Nghipangelwa, only 13 779 have been fully vaccinated, while 22 293 have received at least one dose.
About 700 people have also received a booster shot. Nghipangelwa said many health facilities are no longer recording a huge number of people turning up to be vaccinated, as interest in the vaccines has waned in the region.
He added that Covid-19 remains a serious health threat, considering that positive cases are still being reported in the region on a daily basis. “We have one patient in ICU and four who are currently in hospital and who were not vaccinated, and this is a concern,” he told New Era yesterday.
The health director, therefore, urged all eligible inhabitants of Oshikoto to get vaccinated against the virulent pandemic in order to help the country reach herd immunity.
Nghipangelwa also called on traditional leaders to start campaigns to educate communities at large on the importance of vaccination.
So far, the Onandjokwe district has reported the majority of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region, with 3 395 infections, while Tsumeb has recorded 2 258 cases. The Omuthiya district has thus far a cumulative 1 497 confirmed cases. At the moment, the region only has 21 active cases, while 7 286 have recovered from the virus in Oshikoto.