Covid vaccine response excites Karonga DHO
Karonga District Hospital disease surveillance officer Ellias Phiri has expressed satisfaction with Covid-19 vaccine uptake in the district.
In an interview, he said 20 000 people have already received their jabs.
Phiri said the positive response follows a vaccination awareness campaigns conducted by National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust with other stakeholders.
He said: “Nice and other stakeholders are addressing myths and misconceptions about the vaccine.
“This has encouraged many people to flock to health facilities to get vaccinated against Covid-19.”
In random interviews, residents commended Karonga District Health Office (DHO) for intensifying awareness campaigns on preventive measures and vaccination.
Kingston Mwafulirwa, who got his Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine yesterday, encouraged people to get their jabs to protect themselves from the disease.
He said: “I disregarded the prevailing myths that getting vaccinated will result in impotence.
“In fact, I am feeling normal after getting my jab.”
During the first vaccination phase, 14 657 people received their first jab of the double-dose AstraZeneca while 3 753 got both doses.
Last week, the district received 5 600 J&J doses and 1 878 people have received the jab.
This week, the district received 3 000 doses of AstraZeneca doses which the DHO distributed yesterday to health centres.
Meanwhile, Nice Trust executive director Ollen Mwalubunju has asked for collaboration from religious and traditional leaders in disseminating Covid-19 information.
During his visit to Songwe Border Post and trading centres in the district, Mwalubunju appealed to people to follow Covid-19 guidelines.
