Only 14.9% of the teachers are fully vaccinated ,says Health Ministry

The Ministry of Health has said that only 14.9% of the 550,000 teachers around the country have been fully vaccinated against Covid yet the reopening of schools is partly pegged on their vaccination.

President Museveni last month said secondary and primary schools will reopen in January next year.

Updating the country on the Covid status on Wednesday, the Minister for Health, Dr.Jane Ruth Aceng said that data indicates only 14.9% of the total number of teachers has been  fully vaccinated against the virus

“Teachers who are fully vaccinated are 14.9%, the elderly are 1.7% whereas persons with comorbidities are only 1.8%. These numbers are too small,”Aceng said.

Asked to explain the reason behind the small number of fully vaccinated teachers and other people in the category of the vulnerable people, the health minister said many of these have found challenges accessing vaccines.

“Uganda is very large and vaccination points are still few,” she said.

The chairperson of the Covid Scientific Advisory Committee, Dr Misaki Wayengera could not agree more.

“The low percentage is partly because of the slow rate of access. This has only been accelerated in last two months when vaccines came in. Also the low percentage is because the exercise is voluntary and we don’t want to push people to get vaccinated,” Dr.Wayengera said.

The Health Minister, Dr.Ruth Aceng noted that there has been a mad dash especially by youths to get vaccinated unlike the elderly.

“The elderly are requesting that we follow them where they are because of transport challenges and accessibility. We are planning to have vaccination points in places with large congregations, those with increased transmissions like and island areas among others,” she said.

President Museveni recently said that the reopening of schools in January and the economy at large is pegged on vaccination of at least 4.8 million Ugandans in the category of vulnerable people including teachers, security personnel health workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.

According to the Ministry of Health, slightly over 1.7 million Ugandans have received their first Covid vaccine jabs whereas over 500,000 have got the second jab.