Shoki Kandjimi 

The Rundu Urban constituency youth forum on Tuesday launched a Covid-19 vaccination campaign targeting young people in the district and beyond.  

The campaign is aimed at mobilising young people in Rundu to get inoculated and to share accurate information about the vaccine.  

The chairperson of the forum, Jonas Kakenge, said that young people are not going in numbers to get vaccinated and that they are instead at the forefront of receiving and sharing misleading information about the vaccine, hence they decided to counter these actions by launching the campaign. 

“We have realised that young people are the ones who are receiving misleading information through various platforms. This information brings confusion to our people. So we thought since it is the youth receiving wrong information more compared to the senior citizens, we should also be providing them with the right information through the campaign,” Kakenge said.  

The youth forum has thus mobilised its 11 affiliates around the river town to reach out to its members and encourage them to visit their nearest health facilities to receive the Covid-19 jab.  As part of the campaign, the youth leaders will be stationed at various key points in Rundu such as local markets to sensitise the public about the vaccine. 

Launching the campaign, Rundu Urban constituency councillor, Victoria Kauma applauded the young people for initiating it. She said that conspiracy theories about the vaccine have led to situations where young people refuse to get inoculated.   

“I would like to say that you are brave young people, who decided to come forward and get vaccinated to prove to those who are spreading lies about the vaccine. Prove them wrong because what they are doing is just not correct. People are dying from this virus and it’s not a joke. We have to collectively try and combat this virus,” Kauma stressed.  

Kauma further encouraged the youth to continue adhering to the Covid-19 regulations and become ambassadors of the vaccination rollout, for the country to reach its herd immunity target.  

Also speaking at the launch was Rundu mayor Gabriel Kanyanga who commended the youth for a great initiative while noting that Rundu has been the epicentre of Covid-19 cases in the Kavango East region. 

He said that such efforts will complement efforts by the ministry of health in combating the virus.   

“I am so impressed to witness so many young people coming out and taking charge of their own health by getting vaccinated. There is nothing wrong with you coming out to get vaccinated. I too, was vaccinated recently and I didn’t experience any side effects,” Kanyanga said. 

About 50 young people who attended the launch were inoculated and encouraged their fellow youth in Rundu and beyond to get vaccinated.