Following the new presidential directives concerning reopening of schools, His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni issued that learning institutions would only be opened after 7 million Ugandans get fully vaccinated against Covid 19, raising the former vaccination target from 4.8 million people.
Commenting on this, Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa says that Ugandans shouldn't be forced to vaccinate against Covid 19 but should rather be educated on why they need to.
Ssempa, while speaking to Fatboy, emphasized that it is wrong for the government to coerce people instead of teaching and changing their perceptions on vaccination.
“We shouldn’t force people to get vaccinated against Covid. The use of coercive means to get people vaccinated merely shows lack of proper and genuine education that has failed to instill confidence among individuals to receive their jabs,” the pastor said.
“Some Ugandans are knowledgeable and inquisitive of the efficacy and side effects of the vaccines, which is something the Ministry of health has to address scientifically through research and through giving answers instead of intimidating them so as to reach certain vaccination targets,” he emphasized.
Fatboy, one of the presenters of the show, then asked the Pastor how the government could ably fight Covid 19, saying that the President is choosing to obligate the measure to protect the welfare of Ugandans before re-opening sectors such as education and the entertainment industry.
Pastor Ssempa in response said that the President should be guided by the National Covid Task Force into understanding social anthropology, and the reason for hesitant behavior some Ugandans are expressing towards vaccination; while considering other solutions to fighting the virus apart from vaccination alone.
“We need to have health discussions on treatment options for Covid 19 such as natural immunity because it has been proved to be more effective than the vaccines. We also need to think more about our local treatment rather than relying on foreign treatment while putting the government to account on the effectiveness of vaccines while giving Ugandans options to choose from.”
He further encouraged the government to identify opinion leaders and use them to provide genuine information about the importance of vaccination without necessarily dictating to them what to say.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy and Olive Najjuma every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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