Mbabane: The Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi has announced that the Ministry of Health will soon be deploying teams to vaccinate eligible pupils in schools.
It is now almost six months since the Ministry of Health began rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination programme countrywide.
Nkosi said the Ministry has been working closely with the Ministry of Education who have already requested all Head Teachers to encourage eligible students to register in readiness for this exercise. We would like to encourage other community members, particularly out-of-school youth, to also come to vaccinate at sites nearest to them on the vaccination days.
A few weeks ago the ministry of health announced that emaSwati who are 18 years and older were now eligible to get Vaccinated. Nkosi encouraged community members, particularly out-of-school youth, to vaccinate at the nearest vaccination sites.
She assured the nation that COVID-19 vaccines were safe, saying they were developed using science that has been around for decades, they are not experimental. “The vaccines went through all the required stages of clinical trials and extensive testing and monitoring have shown that these vaccines are safe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines have received and continue to undergo the most intensive safety monitoring across the globe.”
Minister Nkosi encouraged Emaswati to get vaccinated regardless of whether they already had COVID-19. She said evidence is emerging that people get better protection by being fully vaccinated compared with having had COVID-19.
She highlighted that some unvaccinated people who get COVID-19 can become severely ill which could result in hospitalization, putting pressure on the health system. “This can lead to inadequate resources to match the demand for care thus worsening clinical outcomes.”
Adding on the benefits of Vaccination Nkosi said COVID-19 vaccines are the most effective way to protect against infectious diseases. “Vaccines strengthen your immune system by training it to recognize and fight against specific viruses. When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself.”
Nkosi added that when enough people in the community are vaccinated, it will slow down the spread of disease. “Achieving herd immunity is a long-term goal. It usually requires a large amount of the population to be vaccinated,” she said.
