The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | An official from the Ministry of Health has assured Ugandans of the safety of the malaria vaccine that will be rolled out in the country on April 2nd.
On March 7th, the Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero officially received and flagged off the distribution of 2.2 million doses of malaria vaccines to 105 districts with a high to moderate malaria prevalence.
However, as always, vaccine hesitancy, the reluctance or refusal to receive vaccines despite their availability, which the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies as one of the top ten threats to global health, remains a pressing challenge that threatens progress in many immunization exercises.
Silver Kasozi, an officer at the Malaria Control Division of the Ministry of Health, assured parents whose children are eligible for the vaccination that it is safe because it has been researched, tested, and is already being used in many African countries including Kenya.
Vaccine hesitancy in Uganda is influenced by several factors such as misinformation, about vaccines including false claims about side effects and conspiracy theories linking vaccines to infertility or government control.
Other factors are cultural and religious leaders who discourage vaccination, claiming it contradicts spiritual or traditional beliefs. Some people are hesitant to get vaccinated or have their children vaccinated following adverse reactions, real or exaggerated, causing anxiety in some people. For others, it is just the complacency that certain diseases are no longer a threat, hence, no need to vaccinate.
However, Kasozi explained that sometimes, side effects of vaccines are a result of poor handling, and not the vaccines themselves.
He appealed to the community, health workers and the vaccine handlers to understand how to handle the vaccines and administer them well.
During a Symposium themed: “Creating a Collective and Sustainable Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights for Women and Girls in the face of Climate Change” held in Arua City on March 3, 2025, a nurse expressed fear of the possible effect of extreme heat on vaccines.
Sr. Sally Andezu, explained that in cases where the cold chain system breaks on the road, the extreme heat being experienced might likely affect the vaccines.
“We have our vaccines which are very sensitive to light and heat so once this is delayed or once the weather affects this…it means the vaccine is already tampered by heat, and yet cold chain is supposed to observed right from the processing center to the consumer,” Andezu said.
“I talked to a colleague in Adjumani who was telling me that temperatures there are within 36 and above…supposing a health worker wants to go for an outreach, how safe are our vaccines?” she asked.
However, Kasozi downplayed the effects of heat on vaccines, saying all districts have vaccine carriers, and vaccine officers that keep vaccines on transit safe during outreaches.
He added that in case the weather is extreme and highly likely to affect the viability of vaccines, the responsible officers should assess the temperatures before dispatching vaccines.
The R21 malaria vaccine will target children from 6 months to 18 months. It will be administered at six, seven, eight, and eighteen months, for maximum protection.
Statistics from the MoH indicate that at least 16 people in the country die of malaria daily, and 10 of these are children below 5 years.
The malaria vaccination is one of the steps Uganda has chosen to fight against malaria. The vaccines were procured with the support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with co-funding from the government of Uganda.
So far 17 African countries are already using the malaria vaccine, among them Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi.
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