Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has reached out to religious leaders to join forces with the government to raise awareness in the public on the positive effects of getting Covid-19 jabs among their believers.
Such a call comes hardly a day since the President directed health officials to embark on massive public awareness campaign with regard to the Covid- 19 vaccination drive.
“I call upon you to carry out massive campaign on the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination drive…the truth is that the Covid-19 vaccines offer a long lasting immunity against severe and illness and as well reduce the number of deaths,” said President Samia during the commemorations of 50th years Anniversary of the Anglican Church held yesterday in Dodoma city.
She was of the view that people, whose families have not been hit by Covid-19, might experience some hardships on understanding the importance of the jabs.
“As for those who have experienced the wrath of the pandemic and lost some of their loved ones to the disease…understand the pain and hardship, which come in maintaining a patient who is suffering from Covid-19. “Let’s find it crucial to educate our believers on the pros and cons in taking the Covid-19 vaccines.
Although, the vaccines are voluntary some people still don’t know the benefits of becoming immunized,” she pointed out.
Equally, the President was of the view that a vaccine lowers the chances of a person experiencing severe illness and ultimate death in comparison to one that has none.
The Head of States disclosed that after arriving at the venue she got an opportunity to go round and visited some of the exhibitor’s pavilions and witnessed some youth producing prophylactics (used to prevent diseases) by using herbs.
“If the content they have produced is transformed into a fluidlike substance, it will serve as a vaccine to save lives.
Vaccines are a form of defense against catching an illness…foreigners have produced the vaccines through their own means, we on the other hand can produce prevention mechanisms using herbs like what these young people from the Anglican Church have done,” she added.
However, she encouraged them to embark on massive production of the prophylactics, and pledged to extend government’s support so that the preventive measures could get approval from relevant international bodies.
Elaborating, President Samia applauded the initiative taken by the youth to produce the prophylactics, and urged them to increase pace so that their innovation could be recognized globally.
Among issues raised at the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that was attended by most African leaders in New York last week was the plea to ‘waive intellectual property rights’ to allow more countries, particularly low and middle income countries to produce Covid- 19 vaccines.
On several occasions, President Samia reaffirmed the government’s commitment to establish such local vaccine manufacturing factories.
The Head of State had revealed that the government was building domestic capacity that would help in setting up industries for the manufacturing of different vaccines.
In July, this year the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Prof Abel Makubi disclosed the plan to establish a local factory in the production of different vaccine including Covid-19 vaccines.
