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Kampala mass vaccination drive targets boda boda riders

Wednesday September 29 2021
Boda boda riders wait at a round about in Kampala, Uganda.

Boda boda riders wait at a round about in Uganda's capital Kampala. PHOTO | FILE | NMG

By MONITOR

The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCAA) has partnered with Uganda's Ministry of Health and the local boda boda riders association to conduct a mass vaccination drive for motorcycle operators.

This comes after the government resumed mass vaccination across all of Kampala’s divisions. 

Mr Charles Kennedy, a KCCA official, said the government's aim is to bring jabs closer to the people.

“At first eligibility was 50 years and above, but that was not because [other] people were not eligible. The doses by then were very few and government decided to start with vulnerable persons,” he said.

“Majority of areas in Kampala are overpopulated, but they are low income earners who cannot afford transport to access vaccines at the nearby government centres. We have [therefore] opened up over 10 outreaches in communities,” he said.

Mr Kennedy added that the week-long exercise is aimed at increasing the number of vaccinated persons.

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Mr Ricky Rapa Thomson, the co-founder and director of Safe Boda, welcomed the partnership with government and affirmed that motorcycle operators will continue to implement Covid-19 health rules as directed by government.

Ms Rose Ssematimba, the head of Kyebando Central Vaccination Centre at Mulago Referral Hospital, said government has secured several types of vaccine doses to tend to different sets of people.

“We expect to start using the Pfizer vaccine very soon for children from 12 to 18 years when AstraZeneca is finished because we want to have the majority of children vaccinated before the schools are open,” she said.

Ms Ssematimba advised those, who get mild side effects, to either take a lot of water and use painkillers or call the number behind the vaccination card.

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