Zorena Jantze
THE First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, is impressed that Namibians are reacting positively to mobile vaccination sites, with more people availing themselves to get their first jab of the available vaccines.
Geingos today spoke to a crowd of over 100 people who convened at the Single Quarters, Katutura, at the mobile vaccination site set up by her office as part of the Love Protects vaccination campaign.
Geingos, who has initiated a city-wide campaign in which she will bring mobile vaccination teams to multiple informal settlements and locations throughout Windhoek, stated that she is astounded with the turnup of mostly men and the elderly at the mobile vaccination site at the Single Quarters.
“More men died from Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic. It is estimated that 54% of Covid-19 deaths in Namibia were male, while females accounted for 46% of the deaths. It is a similar case with HIV/AIDS where there were higher male deaths recorded. I am not comparing HIV/AIDs to Covid-19, however, the reason for higher male deaths is due to the fact that men tend to shy away from healthcare services,” Geingos said.
Over 3 400 Namibians have so far lost their lives to the coronavirus, of which 48.5% are people who were above the ages of 65.
Geingos, however, clarified that the virus does not discriminate based on age and that younger people with no co-morbidities have also died from the virus.
Geingos thus urged all Namibians to get vaccinated before the country is hit by a fourth wave, stating that the next wave is bound to be more catastrophic as the virus continues to mutate.
“If there is a crisis, we react. During the height of the third wave when we were recording a high number of deaths daily, the queues at the vaccination sites were long. People were panicking as they thought they would die too. However, as the number of deaths decreased, vaccination sites once again became empty. There is no reason to see long queues again due to panic. Government can only order more vaccines if we use up the ones we currently have. By the time the fourth wave comes, it might be too late for some and we should vaccinate ourselves to prevent this,” Geingos explained.
The First Lady’s vaccination campaign is expected to roll out to different sites in Katutura and other informal; settlements over the next few weeks.
On 15 September, the mobile vaccination team will be at Soweto Market, at the Otjomuise (7de Laan) on 22 September, at the Tukondjeni Market on 29 September, at Okahandja Park Market on 6 October, at Twahangana Market (Hakahana) on 13 October, at Havana informal settlement on 20 October, and at Groot Aub Informal settlement on 27 October.
