Young people turn up in big numbers as mass vaccination gets underway

Long queues have formed at different vaccination points in Wakiso district this week to get their first COVID-19 vaccine as the government embarks on a mass vaccination drive starting Monday October 11, 2021.

At Kitende Secondary School, in Kitende, Thousands of people, mostly young people lined up to get their vaccine shot.

Although the government has insisted that all vaccines are safe, of those who turned up insisted they had been attracted to the exercise after hearing that they would get the American-made Pfizer vaccine.

The high turn up could also be attributed to heavy mobilization by village health teams and local government administrators who responded to President Yoweri Museveni’s caution that they risk being sacked if people do not respond well.

The turn up for the elderly has however been particularly low at many vaccination centres according to Ms. Mariam Gwokyalya the Kitende VHT leader.

Mariam Nakirijja, the Kitende Parish VHT leader has been going door to door mobilizing people by registering unregistered persons

Some of the elderly persons who spoke to The Sunrise expressed, tied the hesitancy to threats targeting old people.

One of them only identified as Kulusum, said: “Those hacking people with Bijambiya are targeting the elderly; the vaccination is targeting vaccination, why are they all of a sudden targeting old people.”

But most young people said they wanted to get to jab so they are not blocked from accessing services and opportunities.

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