RX Radio Presenter Fatboy has questioned whether vaccination will still be mandatory when the vaccine goes on sale commencing next year.
He posed the question after the Kampala Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Hudu Hussein, revealed that there won't be free vaccination next year, and those who will receive the jabs may have to pay up to UGX 1 million as government already reached its initial 4.8million target; which has now been increased to 7million and expected to be reached by December 2021.
“Now the question becomes- if the vaccine is for sale, will it still be mandatory for students to return to schools, or for people to access some offices? Will that be practical?” Fatboy asked.
He additionally wondered why the government has failed to recognise that the immunity provided by vaccines isn't permanent, insisting on vaccination without booster shots.
“I wonder why the government neglects the fact that the immunity conferred by the vaccines is short lived. The best vaccine (Pfizer) lasts six months after which it's recommended to get booster shots. From what I see, it's going to be a perpetual process since the antibodies wear off over time hence the need to keep revaccinating. If it’s made a national policy to hit a vaccination target, six months later it's almost as though nothing would have been done and the process would be started afresh,” he said.
Olive in addition said that this is a conversation the government is not ready to have and that it would rather be regarded as fake news yet these are essential conversations that need to be had.
“Other countries like the USA have already rolled out booster shots and shots for children and here we are still telling people to get vaccinated,” she wondered.
Fatboy further said, “Even though the government reaches the threshold they want to, it's not as though the chapter is closed because people will need booster shots and yet there has been no conversation regarding this in the country at all. Secondly, a new variant might appear that might require a whole different vaccine altogether. We might have vaccine resistant variants in the years to come. So what's the plan?”
He went on to add, “I think the government should be pleased with the fairly compliant population that has tried to adhere to the SOPs and other measures. I really hope that come January next year, they’ll fully reopen the country and continue to sensitize people about the preventative measures, but as a country, I think we are ready to move on from this,” he stated.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, Sarah and Lesham every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.