Ugandan President Museveni Warns on laying off Officials Who Let Vaccines Expire

Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called for Covid-19 vaccination efforts to be ramped up while threatening officials with dismissal should vaccines be left to expire.

In his national address on Wednesday, Museveni said nearly 12 million doses of a variety of Covid-19 vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sinopharm, were expected to arrive by the end of December.

Priority groups’ vaccinations are being stepped up, and resident district commissioners (RDC), chief administrative officers (CAO), and district health officers (DCO) have been ordered to ramp up mobilization for vaccines.

Museveni warned: “In any district where vaccines expire, the RDC, CAO, and DHO will be dismissed.”

Surveillance and testing have been increased at all airports and land points of entry to prevent a third wave and the emergence of new variants of Covid-19 in Uganda.

He also said bars and entertainment venues remain closed and will reopen once 4.8 million people have been vaccinated.

280 000 more schooling staff, 330 000 students of 18 years or above, and all priority groups are to be vaccinated before schools reopen.

As of Wednesday, more than 1.6 million cumulative cases of Covid-19 had been recorded, including 3 135 deaths.

The East African country’s Ministry of Health reported that more than 1.7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered.