How safe is COVID-19 vaccine?

The Believers and the Doubters

Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | By March 26; which was just over two weeks since it was launched, Uganda’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign was rolling on shakily.

Uganda received the first batch of COVID -19 AstraZeneca vaccines on March and the vaccination exercise was rolled out on March 10, starting with frontline health workers, teachers and people aged 70 and above. UP to 964,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were received mainly through donations.

According to Ministry of Health, a total of 663,520 doses had by March 26 been distributed to all districts in the country. But only 32,526 people or 5% of those targeted had received their first dose.

Experts in running vaccination campaign were already weighing in on the reason for the seemingly low uptake of the critical vaccine.

Prof. Freddie Ssengoba; a health policy expert, told The Independent that the problem has ariseb mainly because the Ministry of Health has not deployed advocacy and awareness about the vaccination.

“I have not seen an advert showing people where they are supposed to get the vaccine from,” he said, “People could be willing to go but they don’t know where to go.”

According to him, the outlets where vaccination is taking place are few and may not be accessible for everyone.

“They need to expand. For example they should go where health workers are, where teachers are and vaccinate them from there instead of waiting for them to come,” he adds.

Dr Vinand Nantulya, a former head of the Uganda AIDS Commission and senior health adviser at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, also  says that the Ministry of Health did not prepare people for the vaccine.

“They should have put out messages about how it works and its side effects way before it even arrived,” he told The Independent, “But now you can’t expect people to go in blindly.”

Some people also blamed the lackluster response to the vaccination to remarks that President Yoweri Museveni made while addressing the nation on March 14. The President said he was yet to get vaccinated because he had not decided on which COVID-19 vaccine to use.

“First of all, I am quite careful and well protected by the system here. Secondly, I am also looking at which of the vaccines I should I go for, Johnson & Johnson, the Chinese, the Russian?” he said.

Museveni’s remarks, according to some commentators, sparked mixed reactions, with some people saying his statement could de-motivate people from taking the jabs and undermine the entire vaccination exercise.

When The Independent visited Kamwokya Christian Sharing and Caring Medical Centre one of the designated vaccination centres in Kampala near our offices, the turn up was low. It was clear people are skeptical about getting the vaccine.

Agali Onyango one of the vaccinators said they received 100 doses and that vaccination commenced on March 22. But in the four days they had vaccinated around 10 people only and most of them were foreigners.

“The number increased a little but it is only Indians who are showing up. The locals have refused to come. Even health workers are not turning up,” Onyango said, “Most of them said they will come like a week later after they see how we react to the vaccine.”

The story appears to be the same in other parts of the country. In Mbale and Manafwa district officials were finding it hard to convince health workers about the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine.