RUNDU – Kavango West Ncuncuni constituency councillor Leopoldine Nseu says more elders have gone to be vaccinated than young people in her constituency.

She attributed the low youth turnout to the lack of radio service. 

“More elders are turning up for vaccines. The youth are reluctant maybe because there are a lot of misleading information going on, especially on social media, saying negative things about the vaccines but we needed the radio to convince them to get the vaccine,” Nseu said.

The radio station that the Kavango West communities rely on, Radio Wato, is part of the ongoing strike at NBC which started on 22 April.

In Kavango West, Covid-19 vaccination was launched on 20 April and by Sunday, about 1 169 have been vaccinated with the first dose of Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines. 

The councillor said it is important that young people get vaccinated as they are the most active members of society and the vaccine is there to help Namibia as a nation fight the Covid-19 virus that has been causing mayhem globally.

“The vaccine has been approved and it will prevent us from getting infected with the coronavirus and this is the way to go. Look at what is happening in the world.

“I got vaccinated on Friday and health workers informed me about the low turnout which is alarming because government wants to save lives through this vaccine programme,” she said. 

- jmuyamba@nepc.com.na