BY: Justicia Shipena
The governor of the Khomas region, Laura Mcleod-Katjirua says Khomas needs to vaccine 286 641 with the first dose by march next year to reach herd immunity.
Mcleod-Katjirua said during the launch of the Khomas region vaccination campaign on Monday.
“Our best compass to get to some normality is through vaccination, especially if 60% or more of the residents get vaccinated,” said Mcleod-Katjirua.
She added the more the people are vaccinated; the closer is Namibia get to herd immunity.
“The available Covid-19 vaccines help to reduce the number of infected individuals needing hospitalisation and ICU admission by more than 50%.”
According to her, in the past three months, the region has opened up more vaccination sites.
However, the number of people vaccinated to date is below the number needed to reach herd immunity in the area.
“Ever since we started with vaccination in Khomas region, a total of 79 800 people has been vaccinated with the first dose while a total of 53 160 have received their second dose,” she expressed.
The region now has about 46 vaccination sites.
Part of the observed low vaccination uptake in the region Mcleod-Katjirua said is caused by the idea of freedom to choose over the common good.
“High Covid-19 vaccination coverage will translate in more relaxed restrictions allowing our region to return to normality safely, whereas absolute and unrestrained freedom may prolong lockdown and other restrictions.”
Mcleod-Katjirua said initiatives had been put in place to combat the vaccination challenge the region is experiencing.
“More workplace vaccinations sites have been opened in collaboration with the large public and private corporations to provide employees access to vaccination within or near their workplace. Mobile vaccination teams have been established to reach hard to reach areas,” she explained.
Mcleod-Katjirua said the region had lost a total of 862 people to the deadly pandemic since last year.
“As a region, we had witnessed a very turbulent time, especially between May 2021 to August 2021, when we lost most of our people to COVID-19,” she said.
She said a seven-day moving average for new cases is showing a steady decline in the region.
