Kunene Health Director Thomas Shapumba has called on various stakeholders to unite in encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the region, stating that the region is still running at a snail pace with vaccination.

Speaking to Nampa on Wednesday, Shapumba said the government has been responding boldly to curb the spread of the virus, leveraging past experiences with public health campaigns to curb the spread of COVID-19 through educational outreach programmes to remote areas.

He said in order for everyone to be vaccinated and for COVID-19 information to be disseminated, all stakeholders should unite to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“Our government is doing a lot through sound mobilisation programmes and it is now up to us, the traditional authorities, churches, media and social clubs to encourage each other to get vaccinated in order to curb and avoid unnecessary deaths,” Shapumba said.

The health director further advised people to disregard anti-vaccine misinformation on social media and said people should instead focus on facts and statements from reliable sources.

He also noted that the region’s vaccine programme is moving at a snail’s pace. Only 6 361 people have been vaccinated, which translates to nine per cent out of the total targeted population of over 66 000 inhabitants.

“I must say that the inoculation is still slow in the region and the whole country but we are doing everything we can to ensure that everyone receives the vaccine. As we speak, we have seven teams on the ground conducting outreach programmes to educate our people about the virus, while some of these teams are also carrying out vaccination,” he said.

Shapumba said the vaccine is there to ensure that “we don’t compete for oxygen in hospitals” and to assist health workers in tackling the virus.

Kunene has thus far tested 14 162 people, with 2 988 positive cases and 60 deaths recorded.

Shapumba also noted that Kunene received 9 252 Sinopharm vaccine doses which have been dispersed to all health facilities in the region.

Source: Namibia Press Agency