Namayanja: “Let vaccination be a condition to access tertiary institutions”

NRM deputy secretary general Rose Namayanja has said that access to tertiary institutions should be limited to only students that have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Namayanja said that this would help government efforts of having at least 4.8 million people vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 2021. She made these remarks while appearing on NBS Morning Breeze, Tuesday.

She said, “With the reopening of tertiary institutions, I am sure the vaccination uptake will go up. Let vaccination be a condition to access these institutions.”

Tertiary institutions were finally reopened on Monday, after months of closure. President Museveni had closed all education institutions in the country on June 18, 2021 at the peak of the second wave of the pandemic.

A number of students with no proof of vaccination were blocked from accessing some institutions, with the universities claiming that this was done as a measure to combat a possible third wave of the pandemic.

Namayanja supported the universities that did this, saying schools are super spreaders and therefore should be limited to only vaccinated students.

FDC Spokesperson and MP for Kira Municipality Ibrahim Ssemujju, however, disagreed with Namayanja, saying that government should instead promote and encourage people to get vaccinated without blocking them.

He said that, “In fact, my proposal for the reopening of schools is that everyone must be vaccinated before attending class, every university right now should be a vaccination centre, but the campaign should be to have people vaccinated, not.

A n umber of government offices like the National Drug Authority, National Medical Stores, Ministry of Health among others, have already restricted entry to only vaccinated people.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 3 million people have so far been vaccinated with their first dose.

President Museveni in a recent TV address said that the country will reopen fully in January 2022 whether vaccination targets are hit or not.