Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, has said government will never do anything to harm Namibian people, referring to concerns over the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, which he said was established through proper medical and scientific procedures.
Shangula made these remarks on Monday during government-church consultations on COVID-19 vaccination that took place in Windhoek.
He said government’s efforts and vaccination campaigns have been “sucked into a tornado of misinformation” fuelled by easy access to social media, which ranges from incorrect information being spread innocently to active, intentional, aggressive and deceptive information being developed and spread with ill intent.
“This has had the most damaging effect on ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, here in Namibia and elsewhere around the world. As a result, lives that could have been saved were lost. Suffering that could have been averted, proliferated with devastating effect for families and communities. In fact, messages that are critical and aimed at discrediting vaccines, their safety and effectiveness, that cast vaccination in a negative light, increased,” said Shangula.
He added that misinformation not only negatively impacts the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign, but also jeopardises the routine immunisation programmes that have saved the lives of millions of people over the years, which also undermines public trust in public health services.
“In this light, we must join hands to counter and defeat this negative and retrogressive trend. We must do so vigorously and vociferously, putting forward clear, reliable, unified and powerful messages. The extent of the problem demands that we must be uncompromising and deliberate,” stated Shangula.
World Health Organisation representative to Namibia, Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, who spoke at the same occasion, said religious leaders carry a lot of weight, thus the religious community and government must “sing from the same hymn book” to address disinformation and misinformation with relevant scientific information.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
