The Ministry of Health has set a target of 1.1 million people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Teso and Lango sub region. The vaccination campaign dubbed “operation last lap” targets people aged 18 years and above.

Dr Alfred Driwale, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Vaccines and Immunization at the Ministry of Health says that the mass vaccination will start on Monday, November 8 to 15.

He said that the government has secured enough vaccines for the exercise. He adds that they have planned to vaccinate on average 100,000 people per district during the campaign.

Although cases of COVID-19 infections have reduced in Teso, the COVID-19 Treatment Unit at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital has the highest admissions of COVID-19 patients in the country. The unit had 35 patients by Tuesday.

Dr Wilson Etolu, the COVID-19 focal point person at Soroti says the region is battling the infection among the elders and the unvaccinated population.

“At the moment, all the COVID-19 patients are people above 50 years and those who have not taken the jabs. With the trends in COVID-19 infections in Teso, vaccination is the only way to stop this virus”, he said.

Last month, health officials extended vaccination activities to public places like bars, places of worship and market areas but less than a quarter of the targeted population in the region have been vaccinated.

Statistics indicate that Soroti has managed 2,300 cumulative COVID-19 cases with over 1,000 admissions and 196 deaths. Other regional hospitals including the national referral hospitals have less than 15 patients of COVID-19 admissions.

In the Lango region, the Ministry of Health has released 1 Billion Shillings for the mass vaccination.

The money will be used for facilitating health workers and vaccination teams, mobilization, planning, coordination and transportation among other things.

Solomon Adiyo, the Acting District Health Officer Apac says that the exercise is timely. He explains that several people have been turned away from vaccination centres due to inadequate vaccines.

Okello Orik, the LCV chairperson Lira district tasked the leaders to rally the communities to embrace the mass vaccination.