Ministry courts faith leaders on Covid vaccine
Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has appealed to faith leaders to help persuade their followers to receive Covid-19 vaccines for the country to reach 70 percent target required to achieve herd immunity.
She made the call yesterday in Lilongwe during a meeting with faith leaders on Covid-19 vaccine.
Chiponda said only 23 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
“Despite registering reduced cases of Covid-19, the pandemic is not yet over. That is why we want to scale up the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines,” she said.
United States Ambassador David Young whose government has contributed over $37 million (about K37 billion) towards the Covid-19 fight in the country, asked people to get vaccinated against the disease.
He said: “Since its peak in Malawi, in January 2021, the number of deaths from Covid-19 has steadily decreased, while the capacity of the health system to respond to complex emergencies has increased.
“We are once again able to come together in classrooms, in markets and in our places of worship. We know that Covid-19 is still with us, but we now have more tools available to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe from the worst impacts of this disease.”
One of the religious leaders, the Reverend Dr Fanuel Magangani, said faith leaders should learn how they can continue to assist in mitigating the effects of Covid-19 and cholera in the country.
He said: “All these issues affect our lives because anything that affects the people in the church also affects the communities and we belong to the community.
“So, it was good for us to listen to the experts on how they are doing on Covid-19 vaccines and also preparing in the fight against cholera. Together, we can fight the diseases.”
As of November 20 2022, 3 916 585 people had received the first dose while 3 089 457 were fully vaccinated.
