By: Uakutura Kambaekua
With Namibia’s Covid-19 vaccination rate standing at 24 per cent, the health ministry’s executive director Ben Nangombe has reported that there are sufficient Covid-19 vaccine doses for everyone in the country, especially for those that are applying for the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) vacancies which require Covid-19 vaccination passport.
NDF, this week, published a vacancy seeking more than 1,000 cadets, forcing a staggering number of youths to flock to various vaccination points to obtain their vaccination passports.
Nangombe told The Villager newspaper that the ministry has enough vaccine doses on its shelf at all its 300 vaccination points countrywide.
“The vaccine that we have on our shelves and at our vaccination sites are enough, and we know which doses are expiring and when. Should the vaccines reach an expiry date, we will dispose of them according to the regulation. The nation must rest assured that the vaccine and other medicinal products that are on our shelves are not expired and are still in use,” said Nangombe.
He also said that the government has extended a substantial amount of resources, noting that it’s imperative that these resources do not go to waste and that eligible people should get vaccinated.
He further called on those applying for the NDF positions to go out in numbers and get vaccinated, noting that it’s for their own protection.
“They will be protected, protecting the country in terms of ensuring that should they contract the virus, it will not result in critical illness. The statistics that we have been reporting are that people finding themselves in ICU fighting Covid-19 are not vaccinated. So let us take the opportunity and get vaccinated to protect ourselves and our families while helping the country to get back to normality,” added the ED.
Furthermore, Nangombe stated that the country will launch an integrated campaign in August to vaccinate people with Covid-19 countrywide at all its 300 vaccination points, including a house-to-house campaign.
Nangombe also refuted claims surrounding the NDF recruitment process, which requires a Covid-19 vaccination passport which, according to some, is government’s way of forcing people into taking the vaccine. He noted that NDF has their own requirements and that he was not officially informed on that.