STOP ROADBLOCKS ON VACCINATION- NABBANJA
Some people said the government’s directive might not entirely be a great idea as it was helping to ensure that everyone gets vaccinated.
The Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, has directed that mounting roadblocks to impose Covid-19 vaccination should be removed.
“Mounting roadblocks to enforce vaccinations against Covid-19 is totally against well-established global practices. It must stop immediately. District health teams should devise other legal mechanisms to increase vaccination uptake,” Ms Nabbanja said yesterday in a tweet.
The disregard for the practice follows previous complaints made by unvaccinated passengers and motorists who said they were being forced to take the jab at designated roadblocks.
A section of human rights activists and lawyers continue to reason that the exercise should not be forced as it oversteps one’s freedom.
“Forcing someone to take a Covid-19 jab is violating their rights. Rather, people should be persuaded and encouraged to be vaccinated at their convenience,” Mr Ivan Bwowe, a lawyer, told this publication yesterday.
Among those happy with Ms Nabbanja’s new directive is Mr Simon Mbabazi . “The practice was an inconvenience,” he said.
Mr Mbabazi yesterday said while traveling to Kasese, a town in Western Uganda, in December, he was stopped by security personnel who had placed barricades on the Mbarara-Kasese-Fort portal highway. Mr Mbabazi was then asked whether he had been vaccinated.
“I told them yes but unfortunately forgot to carry the card,” he said.
“I requested to be allowed to continue on with the journey but they refused,” Mr Mbabazi added.
Rather than argue with the security personnel, the businessman opted to abort the journey and return to Kampala City.
Some people said the government’s directive might not entirely be a great idea as it was helping to ensure that everyone gets vaccinated.
However, with the practice discarded now, there is looming worry that Covid-19 cases might increase, especially after the Ministry of Health confirmed on Saturday that the country was currently experiencing the third-wave of the pandemic.