Albertina Nakale
Although Namibia has been recording a steady decline in the number of new infections, the number of deaths due to Covid-19 continues to be high. Health ministry executive director Ben Nangombe warned a drop in new infections does not necessarily mean the country is out of the woods yet.
It has become evident most people no longer exercise protective measures such as wearing masks and hand sanitising as stipulated in the Public and Environmental Health Act 1 of 2015 Public Health Covid-19 general regulations. By 27 January, only about 25% of the target population in Namibia had been fully vaccinated.
Therefore, Nangombe said, Namibia cannot afford to relax measures as the majority of the population is still unvaccinated and many are at high risk of severe illness or ending up in hospital when exposed to the virus. The country has about 8 000 active cases. Nangombe explained the history of the pandemic in Namibia teaches that the winter months tend to be some of the country’s worst times as far as the pandemic and flu-like symptoms are concerned. “In 2020, we experienced the second wave in December, and similar to what is happening now, the cases started declining in January 2021, stretching up to around early in April However, a few months later, we experienced the third wave between May up to August,” Nangombe said to New Era.
“We are therefore not out of the woods yet. The public is encouraged to remain vigilant and continue adhering to the public health regulations in order to suppress the spread of new infections.” He said countries such as the United Kingdom have partially abolished the compulsory wearing of masks in some settings as they have immunised the greater majority of their target populations.
By 27 January 2022, the UK had fully vaccinated over 70% of its population and given booster doses to more than 50% of the population. According to Nangombe, the vaccination rollout was to ensure that people are protected against severe illness as well as the possibility of hospitalisation and reduce risks of death.
“By vaccinating 70% of their population, countries like the UK were able to return to some form of normalcy. The same cannot be said for Namibia as we are still far from reaching our herd immunity target.
He said the government continues to encourage the public to get vaccinated so that Namibia can also return to normalcy and lift the restrictions imposed under the Covid-19 public health measures. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Namibia country director, Brian Baker, said despite best efforts from scientists and public health experts around the world, it has proven impossible to predict the future of the pandemic.
“However, we can learn from the past two years, and what we have seen are repeated waves of disease spread. We do not know what the future holds, and the next wave may spread as fast as Omicron and be as deadly as Delta. The single most important thing we can do during the next few months is to protect ourselves and communities by getting vaccinated ourselves and convincing others to get vaccinated.”
Baker noted, although cases are going down, infections are still occurring commonly in the community. As people start to mingle more, he says this increases the chance that the virus will continue to spread and the risk that the virus will reach those who are most vulnerable to developing serious illness or dying. “Now is not the time to let our guard down,” he said.
By Monday this week, a total of 417 944 people aged 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, representing 28.4% of the target population (1 471 973).
A total of 113 869 have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while 244 607 adults have received two doses of other vaccine types.
Hence, 358 476 adults have completed their vaccination, translating into 24.4% of the target population.
About 3 986 children aged 12-17 years have received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, representing 1.3% of the target population (307 298).
Of these, 996 are fully vaccinated. The cumulative number of people vaccinated with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for both adults and children is 421 930, of which 359 472 are fully vaccinated, translating to 20.2% of the total target population (1 779 271). A total number of 16 270 people have received a Covid-19 vaccine booster dose.
–anakale@nepc.com.na