Besigye rallies donors for Covid vaccines 

Former FDC president Dr Kizza Besigye addressing journalists in Kampala on July 13, 2021. PHOTO / ABUBAKER LUBOWA

What you need to know:

  • Uganda has received at least 1.1 milliom doses of Covid vaccines through donations and more vaccines are expected in the country next week between 21 and July 27.

Opposition activist Dr Kizza Besigye yesterday criticised government’s Covid-19 response as discriminatory and rallied the international community and donors to donate vaccines and other related medical supplies to Uganda so that the country can be able to vaccinate the targeted 21.9 million Ugandans.

Addressing journalists in Kampala, Dr Besigye said government has failed to secure vaccines and called for international support to address the glaring gap.
“We urge the international humanitarian organisations to help vaccinate our people because government has not been able to vaccinate them fully,” Dr Besigye said.

He recommended that once the vaccines are secured, priority should be placed on frontline workers such as medical workers and teachers so that schools can be reopened and enable learners resume studies. He also said there should be plans to resuscitate the cracked economy.
Once this is done, Dr Besigye said it will enable the country lift the lockdown and enable the citizenry fend for themselves as opposed to relying on the Covid relief fund that, according to him, is being issued in a discriminative way.

Dr Besigye faulted government for not heeding suggestions fronted by colleagues in the Opposition.
“We have on several occasions suggested to this government ways how to handle the situation but they have paid a deaf ear,”Dr Besigye said.
Since the country started mass vaccination exercise in March, a total of 1,076,923 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered. 

Uganda has received at least 1.1 milliom doses of Covid vaccines through donations and more vaccines are expected in the country next week between 21 and July 27. 
Dr Besigye’s calls comes hardly a week after Members of Parliament demanded that government prioritses procurement of vaccines needed to immunise and shield Ugandans from the deadly virus.

Covid relief fund
In related development, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has decried the delayed disbursement of the Shs100,000 Covid relief fund to vulnerable city dwellers. He demanded that government commits a particular date on which the vulnerable persons in Kampala Metropolitan area would be getting the said money.  
Government said it had set Wednesday as the deadline for uploading data of all vulnerable people by the town clerks, but this has been postponed until further notice.