Terence Mukasa
Officials from the ministries of information and health this week held discussions with two groups in Oshana region’s Okatyali constituency to debunk misinformation that has fuelled vaccine hesitancy.
The officials are holding focus group discussions in areas with low Covid-19 vaccine uptakes to understand and overcome widespread Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy in some parts of the country.
It is also with the goal of gathering baseline data fuelling hesitancy as well as gauging honest views and input on vaccination from community members. President Hage Geingob stated during the 37th Covid-19 public briefing a fortnight ago that Namibia destroyed over 150 000 doses of outdated Covid-19 vaccines because eligible individuals are unwilling to be jabbed.
The effort is carried out in collaboration with the two ministries as part of the ‘Get Vaccinated’ national campaign in areas with poor vaccine uptake, such as Zambezi, Kavango East, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati, Kunene and Otjozondjupa.
The World Health Organisation has set Namibia a target of vaccinating 10 000 people a day if the country is to achieve herd immunity.
However, that target will be missed as the country only vaccinated 329 088, at around 2 000 per day, which is 21.8% of the population.