Omicron: Half of third wave deaths were not vaccinated

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nearly half (48 percent) of the deaths that were registered in the third wave were of persons that were not vaccinated according to the ministry of health.

Records from the health ministry show that during the third wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant, a total of 290 deaths were recorded despite the less virulent nature of the variant.

During the duration of the third wave, 34,275 cases were reported. The variant was first reported in South Africa and according to the World Health Organisation, accounts for 98 percent of all the global cases.

The minister of health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng says the highest number of deaths recorded from one group during the third wave were people who were not vaccinated. She says this shows that people need to go and get vaccinated since this can save lives.

These findings are not any different to what has been seen in other countries such as South Africa and the U.S, which reported some of the highest number of cases during this wave.

Data from the health ministry shows that to date, 6,976,897 million Ugandans are fully vaccinated. While the vaccines cannot stop infections from taking place, they reduce the chances of severe disease and hospitalization.

The World Health Organisation boss in Uganda, Dr Yona Woldermariam says that since the world is not sure when the next variant will occur, people need to take precautions.

“Following public health measures and getting vaccinated is important because we are not yet out of the woods. We need to be protected as we wait for what will come next,” he said.

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