By Special Correspondent It is Operation Hakuna Mchezo for all health workers in Amuru district: You either take the jab or you miss your salary for two months.
The tough directive has been issued by the Resident District Administrator Geoffrey Osborn Oceng who is also the Chairperson of the district Covid-19 Taskforce.
Since Amuru received 3,000 Astra Zeneca doses a month ago for immediate vaccination of the frontline workers and other vulnerable targeted persons, only 10 health workers out of the targeted 486 have taken the jab, representing a mere 2%. This has infuriated the RDC who has issued a directive that all the doses 486 doses must be administered within one week.
The Directive was issued to and through Dr Patrick Odong Olwedo, who is the district health officer. Dr Olwedo has consequently cancelled urgent official engagements he had in Kampala and returned started urgently rallying his team to ensure that the RDC’s directive to exhaust al the doses is complied with within the stipulated seven days. The RDC is the representative of the president in the district.
According to RDC Oceng, the principle of vaccination being voluntary does not apply in Amuru. He says he cannot sit back when a person who physically handles others (as a health worker) refuses to be vaccinated. As such, any health worker who doesn’t get the Covid vaccine will forfeit their salary for two months. Of all the 3,000 doses sent to Amuru, only 45 have been administered. Besides the 10 heath workers who have been vaccinated so far, another 35 frontline workers, mostly security personnel, have taken the jab.
