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Kalangala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Medical workers in Kalangala district are overwhelmed by demands for Covid-19 vaccines amid stock-outs.
The district Covid-19 taskforce created 14 vaccination centres in the area, but the centres can hardly serve the high number of people that are turning up due to inadequate vaccine doses.
Godfrey Hadubi, the Kalangala District Health Inspector, who also coordinates the vaccination exercise says that 3,000 doses of vaccines that the district received last week are no more due to high demand.
Fred Kaweesi, a health worker at Kalangala health centre IV says on average, the facility receives at least 40 people a day who show up to be vaccinated, but they are turned away due to lack of vaccine supplies. He says many people are now eager to receive the jab, attributing it to the end of the year’s festive season which is closing in.
He adds that besides the people who show up at the health centres, they are also receiving so many calls from people who want to book their vaccination appointments in advance.
“We are noticing that communities in this area are gearing up for the end of year’s festivities, this could be the reason why people are scrambling for the vaccines even before we get sufficient doses,” he says.
According to Hidubi, in total, the district has so far received 9,000 doses of vaccines that were all administered. He however adds that they have notified the Ministry of Health about the high demand for vaccine supplies, and they expect a new consignment to be delivered anytime soon.
Ian Muyanja and Fauster Akello, some of the business operators at Bugala Island say that the dash for vaccination in the area is arising from the fear of a possibility to lockout unvaccinated passengers from using public water transport vessels that connect to the islands.
Akello says that there have been circulating rumours that the government is considering issuing instructions to ferry operators to strictly transport passengers that present proof of vaccination, which has left islanders with no option but to embrace vaccination.
She wants the Ministry of Health to ensure consistency in the delivery of vaccines, especially in hard-to-reach communities, arguing that the intermittent may negatively affect people’s morale and eventually uptake of vaccines.
Late last month, the government received 1.4 million doses of Covid-19 single jab vaccines of Johnson and Johnson, which Dr Diana Atwine, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary indicated will be allocated to special case communities that include Islands.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health Spokesperson says a distribution list for the vaccines is being worked upon, which will eventually be sent to the National Medical Stores as soon as possible to dispatch the vaccines.
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