Africa-Press – Namibia. NEWS REPORTS THAT about 155,000 Covid-19 vaccines will be destroyed (The Namibian, 3 December 2021) must be blamed on president Hage Geingob, health minister Kalumbi Shangula and attorney general Festus Mbandeka, because they fail to provide good communication on why vaccination is essential.
Resources like those vaccines would not be wasted if the presidential Covid-19 updates were more than a boring list of statistics and a lack of composure underlined by threats of restrictions or mandatory vaccinations, instead of robust debate between vaccine optimists and vaccine sceptics.
A debate by experts should have balanced views to create a pragmatic approach within the mindsets of people, so that they make informed decisions. Obviously, the public’s non-medical debate platforms on Covid-19 vaccines in Namibia are an oasis of vaccination insecurity in a desert of so many unanswered questions.
In an article titled ‘South Africa’s Looming Vaccine Revolt’ (The Herald), Brian Pottinger attributed vaccine scepticism to history, contesting that “most South Africans are not conspiracy theorists but their history teaches them one certain thing: uncontained power always gets one screwed. And many feel screwed now by a confluence of forces (not a conspiracy) that, from Big Pharma to Big Tech, to authoritarian governments, seeks rent from this incomparable tragedy”.
Similarly, mindful Namibians must be applauded for exercising their civic disobedience against an expectation from the government that they accept State House instructions on Covid-19 without debate.
Namibians’ unwillingness to take the jab suggests a need to expand in-depth awareness of Covid-19 vaccines before even processing the safety-narrative at face value. With a long history of being subjugated since 1884, Namibians are asking questions that need thoughtful answers more than just vaccine marketing.
Attorney general Mbandeka must weigh in with debate for the sake of public education on the 12 vaccination questions in a letter to the state oil company, Namcor by the NUNW trade union’s lawyers Richard Metcalf Attorneys. Mbandeka is more willing to lament Covid-19 misinformation, yet he ignores vaccine debates. How do you filter Covid-19 misinformation without allowing Covid-19 debates to flourish?
With too many questions unanswered and theories filling the void, it is unsurprising that 80% of Namibians prefer to live a dangerous freedom, trusting their natural immunities rather than the vaccines that are marketed without any debate.
The Namibian government must understand why most Namibians are not taking advantage of a centralised system that is somehow openly uncomfortable debating the Covid-19 vaccines.
Questions abound because many factors are yet to be understood, whether it’s the speed at which vaccines are being rolled out, the technological complexity with which they were produced, or waning immunity among the jabbed.
The lack of debate has allowed many to conflate issues and even ask questions like: Are Covid-19 vaccines pure vaccines or disguised for multipurpose achievement? Is there a relationship between Covid-19 and the purported new IDs, new driving licences and the latest national census?
There should be more platforms created for robust and open debate that allows even views considered as conspiracy theories. * Tobias Nande Nandjigwa is a social science educator from Iithindi village, Elim, Omusati region.
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