Namibians are willing to be vaccinated against Covid-19

Covid-19 vaccines are available for all Namibians and other people residing in the country at no cost.

RUSTENBURG, May 1 (ANA) – Namibians have shown a willingness to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Health Minister Dr. Kalumbi Shangula said this week.

He told a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday that the health and social services ministry had established 383 Covid-19 vaccination sites in different districts across the southern African country, 181 of which were fixed, 154 were mobile while 48 were outreach points.

“It is encouraging that more and more Namibians are coming forward to get vaccinated. So far, more than 20,315 persons have already been vaccinated around the country following the roll out of the nationwide vaccination programme,” Shangula said.

“This is indeed an encouraging positive public response,” he said, adding that people should not be turned away from vaccination sites for not producing national identification documents.

Health passports, voters registration cards, documents from church authorities and driver’s licenses could also serve for identification, the health minister said.

“In cases where none of these can be produced, a person without an identification document may simply provide their birth date, and if the birth date is unknown, the health workers will use the date of vaccination and the person’s name for record purposes,“ he added.

Vaccines are available for all Namibians and other people residing in the country at no cost.

Shangula said the Covid-19 epidemiological trend in Namibia called for greater vigilance and “calls for all of us to take personal responsibility to suppress the spread of new infections”.

“While our country has done relatively well, it will be self-defeating if we let our guard down now,” he cautioned.

Genome sequencing conducted at the University of Namibia indicated that the Covid-19 variant initially discovered in neighbouring South Africa late last year was present in 60 percent of the samples analysed in February.

The variant first detected in Britain was found in three of the samples analysed.

“Namibia will do well to learn lessons from other countries, where the pandemic has overwhelmed health systems. The onus of responsibility rests upon all of us as a nation to prevent such horrific scenarios,“ said Shangula.

“We can do it by complying with the public health measures that have been put in place. We can do it by making the preventive and hygiene practices part and parcel of our daily lives.“

“This is particularly important as we approach the winter season where people tend to be close together in close settings and where influenza illnesses tend to proliferate,” he added.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa