At least 5,000 people have been newly vaccinated in Namibia in the last two weeks since the country’s military announced that new recruits should have evidence of taking Covid-19 jabs, health officials said.

The Ministry of Defence announced that it was looking for 1,500 new members.

The authorities hope that the uptake would convince others who have been hesitant to come forward. Only 17% of the country’s 2.5 million population has been vaccinated.

Those applying for the army jobs have to take the Johnson and Johnson jab, the only vaccine that it available in Namibia, the news site The Namibian reports.

The army has defended the vaccine requirement saying that the training takes place in crowded environments making it easier for transmission.

“We had members of the NDF who succumbed to Covid-19 already, and many others were severely sick with Covid-19, including myself,” the army’s Public Relations Officer Colonel, Petrus Shilumbu said.

“We just want to keep everybody healthy, because the moment we have everybody vaccinated, then we are all well protected,” he added.

Source: Nam News Network