By Our Reporter
On Saturday, 2,814 people got vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Kololo Independence Grounds, the biggest number to be achieved from a single location in one day.
Of these, 2,483 received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine while 331 received their second jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The vaccination drive, dubbed “Fenna Tugemebwe”, is an initiative by Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) under its Raising The Bar program, which saw the brewer partner with the Ministry of Health, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, Safe Boda and Next Media Services among others.
The hundreds of people that got vaccinated also received free refreshments from Coca Cola, goodies from UBL and a chance to take selfies and interact with their favourite celebrities like Azawi, Ykee Benda, Canary Mugume, Martha Kay, Madrat & Chico and many more.
Over 20 mobile vaccination stations were active between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, which ensured a shorter waiting period to ensure that the vaccination process was completed as seamlessly as possible.
Jackie Tahakanizibwa, UBL’s Corporate Relations Manager, said, “I appreciate the public for coming out in big numbers, and appreciate our partners, who have worked with us to make this drive a success. I am excited that we are working towards the targeted number of vaccinated adults needed to enable the safe reopening of the economy.”
In a recent address, President Yoweri Museveni stated that the economy would be reopened once 4.8 million people have been fully vaccinated.
Commenting about the vaccination drive, Joseph Kigozi, the Next Media Services Chief Strategy Officer noted that, “As Next Media Services, we will continue to use our platforms to encourage Ugandans to get vaccinated for COVID-19. This initiative benefits all of us because we have all been affected by this pandemic. Once we all vaccinate, many businesses will be able to run normally again.”
Emmanuel Ainebyona, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, said, “I would like to appreciate the private sector players who have taken time to mobilise people for this mass vaccination. It has been impressive and moving forward, we need to have more of these partnerships and think of more creative ways of ensuring that we vaccinate the 22 million people needed to safeguard everyone against COVID-19.”
