Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, has said the ministry will increase its efforts to convince all healthcare workers to get vaccinated because vaccination works.

Shangula made these remarks on Wednesday during an interview with Nampa, where he said 11 701 healthcare workers have been vaccinated so far, representing 21.7 per cent of those vaccinated since the vaccination campaign started. The ministry has set a target of vaccinating 53 851 healthcare workers by the end of the year.

He said the ministry will not force anyone to get vaccinated as it remains voluntary, but it is also contemplating mandatory vaccination for healthcare workers.

“They are showing a willingness to get vaccinated. In fact, they were the first ones to get vaccinated when the campaign started. You will find some of them who are hesitant to get vaccinated, but the majority are getting their jabs. We are going to increase persuasion because so far it has worked very well for us,” said Shangula.

He said the only way to protect Namibians from the pandemic is through vaccination and the government with its partners has made great progress in procuring vaccines, therefore there is a need for support from everyone, especially political parties, to reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase the uptake of the vaccine by convincing their supporters to take the vaccine.

“We have strengthened the vaccination campaign through radio, TV interviews and educational materials and increased the number of vaccination sites. The pandemic has created a window of opportunity for political parties to be more in contact with their members, sympathisers and voters,” stated Shangula.

Misinformation and disinformation on social media and other platforms, he noted, have also played a role in vaccine hesitancy, while some infected people resorted to home remedies and only sought medical treatment when it was too late.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency