Gov't to artistes: If you want bars re-opened, urge people to go for vaccination

All private sector players including artistes need to come out and use their spaces to call upon people to embrace vaccination, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Judith Nabakooba said on Sunday.

While speaking to the nation about the current status of the Covid-19 pandemic last week, President Museveni said it is still too early to think of reopening bars and concerts since the deadly virus is still with us.

He explained that whereas cases seem to have fallen to manageable levels, it doesn’t mean Covid-19 is no more.

Citing countries like the United Kingdom, South Africa and Kenya that have continued with lockdown measures, Museveni said it is only wise to keep the bars closed to avoid the transmission of the virus.

Addressing the media at the weekend, Nabakooba suggested that the only way to reopen these places is for the private sector including musicians to join government in urging people to go for vaccination.

"There has been a lot of misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine.This could explain the low turn out at most of the vaccination centres. We have been assured by the ministry of Health and our scientists that vaccine is okay,"she noted.

She explained that during his address Museveni provided a simple road map that will help most of the closed sectors to reopen.

About a month ago, government embarked on the Covid-19 vaccination effort starting with the most at risk population. So far, the number of people who have been vaccinated is still low, according to Nabakooba.

She stated that the job of mobilising and educating people about vaccination should not be left to government alone.