People’s Tribunal

Timoteo’s job on Covid-19 is cut out for him

Dear judge Mbadwa,

Now that we have rolled out the Covid-19 vaccine with fanfare at the Zomba field hospital and Mzuzu Central Hospital, the real job to arrest the spread of the coronavirus has just started.

My lord, how far the country will go in combating Covid-19 will depend on how successful it will implement the vaccination campaign amid a lot of myths and distortions that are preying on the illiterate majority.

My lord, I want to register my disappointment with Timoteo Cloud and his ministry of Civic Education who should have gone full throttle by now educating the masses on the need for those eligible to be vaccinated. 

His ministry is critical in ensuring that the right messages are sent across and that the positive narrative about the need to combat coronavirus will also encourage positive thinking.

Unfortunately, I have not seen Timoteo and his team anywhere running up and down, propping up the campaign and demystifying the myths that usually come with introduction of a new thing in society.

It is not surprising that lies concocted in the minds of some nefarious people have now gained traction so much that normal vaccination exercises for under-five children are being shunned in some rural areas.

It is common these days to hear that some people who need urgent medical attention are wasting away in homes afraid that their visiting a hospital will result in “some overzealous health workers infusing them with some coronavirus that will finish them off.”

Some parents have even stopped their children from going to school lest they be vaccinated against their will. My lord, wait a moment!  Didn’t they say the campaign is targeting a certain age group of 40 above who belong to the vulnerable category in addition to frontline health workers?

And since when did we start vaccinating the under-18s in this campaign?

It is strange that people who are in the forefront discouraging others from being vaccinated bear marks of smallpox vaccine and others their parents greatly despised , yet they did not die from them anyway.

My lord all these lies are spreading with speed of fire because there is an information gap that is being filled by rumour-mongers and scaremongers alike.

 I will sue Timoteo for failing to do a job that had been cut out for him from day one if the country is going to fail in its war against Covid-19 because of the low uptake of the vaccine and people’s indifference to embrace measures to prevent the virus from spreading.

It is not that Timoteo does not know what to do, but there is too little effort to remove the expansive mistrust that developed over Covid-19.

Will the real Timoteo please stand up? If somebody says they have been working all along, then what is there to show for when the negativity is increasing?

Let me stop here, my lord.

Regards,

John Citizen.

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