Health workers in Arua City have shunned the COVID-19 jab with only 50 having been vaccinated on day one.
The health minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng launched the national vaccination exercise on 10th March 2021, however, the exercise was officially launched at the cancer ward in Arua Regional Referral Hospital on Monday afternoon, targeting heads of departments.
According to Suzan Tabu the Principal Nursing and Human Resource Officer at Arua hospital, who also received the jab, they are being careful not to vaccinate many health workers so that in case of any negative impact, service delivery doesn’t breakdown totally.
Due uncertainty about the impact of AstraZeneca vaccine on the body basing on their experience from the Ebola Vaccine, the administration of Arua Regional Referral Hospital decided to schedule a specified number of health workers from each department for vaccination on particular days.
Tabu says they decided to place heads of departments at the forefront of the vaccination campaign to serve as an assurance to the lower health workers to embrace the exercise.
The exercise is set to be done after every two days as they monitor the health of the first recipients of the vaccine.
The Resident City Commissioner Arua Martin Oroch, who launched the vaccination exercise said they have earmarked five health centers in Arua City for the vaccination campaign.
He dismissed fears that some health workers could opt out due to fear of the anticipated negative impact, adding that he decided to secure a copy of the schedule so as to monitor and make follow-ups.
