Why I have not yet taken Covid-19 jab - Museveni

President Museveni has admitted he has not yet received the Coronavirus vaccine but was quick to defend himself over the same

Uganda last week kicked off its first phase of the vaccination against Covid-19 with the limited 964,000 doses got through donations to be administered to high-risk groups, including frontline workers and the Health Minister, Dr.Jane Ruth Aceng was the first person to take the jab.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, the president admitted that he is yet to take the jab because he thinks the frontline workers ought to be catered for first before any other person since they are at a higher risk of contracting the virus.

“ I have not yet been vaccinated, and neither has Janet(First Lady). We wanted to start with the high-risk people. These are the ones working in hospitals dealing with patients. The reason I have not been vaccinated is that I am quite careful and  well protected by the system here,”Museveni said on Sunday evening

The president noted that whereas there were some infections in State House, he was spared together with his close team arguably because they live in a spacious place that doesn’t allow the spread of the virus.

Museveni however noted that he is still not yet decided on which type of vaccine to take but noted he will soon take the jab.

“ I am also still trying to decide on which vaccine to take. Whether the Chinese, Russian or the Astra Zeneca.”

Museveni’s comments come on the backdrop of murmurs, especially on social media on why the president had not taken the lead in taking the COVID jab, just like some of his counterparts like Rwanda’s Paul Kagame.

However, Museveni is not the only leader in the region who has not yet taken the COVID jab, with his counterparts from Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan and Burundi also yet to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Uganda doing well

The president said so far over 1215 people have so far been vaccinated, adding that the country is so far doing well in the fight against the virus.

“The disease came in and these people who got admitted in hospital were managed well and recovered because they were few. If they had been many as had been in many countries we could not manage.

"As I speak in the whole of Uganda, we only have 24 corona patients in hospitals and out of these, only eight are a bit severe though not on machines but needing care. I congratulate Ugandans on this success but also thank God,”Museveni said.

The president however noted that despite the success, the war on the virus is still far from over, noting that people ought to continue wearing masks and observing the Standards Operating Procedures.

Uganda has for the last one year recorded 40,000 Coronavirus patients and only 334 of these have died whereas over 12000 have been discharged.