BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19 CONTINUES

GOVERNMENT commitment to fight the coronavirus or covid19 pandemic is steadfast but needs the support of everyone, especially parents of eligible children needing vaccination.

Children above 12 years are eligible to receive the covid19 vaccination and it is in this regard that an appeal has been made to parents and guardians to give consent for their vaccinations.

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services, Lackson Kasonka, has said government will not depart from the norm of seeking parental consent for vaccines to be administered to young ones.

Professor Kasonka made the observation in an interview with the Daily Nation and assured that parents and guardians would be consulted before vaccines are administered to children.

This is as it should be because parents want to be assured that the vaccines being given to their children are safe.

In fact one of the myths which government has been trying hard to remove is the belief that vaccines are not safe. Some people believe that vaccines can deform someone or make them impotent. These are all lies but nonetheless most people tend to believe them.

This is why most adults, let alone children, are reluctant to get jabbed.

Government on its part has stressed that parental consent was key in ensuring the efficiency of the exercise and as such the ministry would not falter in that regard.

Professor Kasonka said that his ministry was working with the district education officers in all the districts in an effort to reach out to eligible school going children.

This is against a background of an upswing in covid19 cases in the last few weeks.

Minister of Health, Sylvia Masebo observed recently about a worrying trend of increased hospitalization of covid19 patients. Although the recovery rate is good, it is nonetheless worrying that as the cold weather sets in, there are more cases of covid19 being recorded.

This is the more reason that people should take vaccinated.

What can not be over emphasized is the need to create a herd immunity by ensuring that 70 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated.

This is why government recently launched the 10day vaccination drive in all provinces. The idea was to capture more people and push the numbers of those vaccinated up.

Unfortunately, it appears the country is still far from reaching the desired percentage.

We think that the vaccination drive should be a continuous one and this should be extended to all high density areas.

The covid19 vaccination drive should become a permanent fixture for now until the country attains the 70 percent threshold for herd immunity

The fight against covid19 is not easy but Zambians are tough and can easily conquer this by observing safety measures which include masking up, washing hands, avowing crowds, no shaking hands and sanitizing hands whenever necessary.

The battle can be won.