Government through the Ministry of Health has said it will soon roll out countrywide vaccination of children against Covid-19 but this will not be done without the permission of the parents in order to ensure the success of the exercise.
The remarks followed several media reports indicating that children between the age of 12 and 17 would be vaccinated without their parents’ consent but dismissed this as untrue.
In a statement seen by Ug Mirror, the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Henry Mwebesa stressed that the exercise won’t take place without the consent of the parents’ contrary to the media reports.
“Attention has been drawn to several media posts stating that the ‘Ministry of Health plans to vaccinate children aged 12-17 years old against COVID-19 with or without their parents’ consent.
“The Ministry would like to reiterate that no child will be vaccinated against COVID-19 against their parents’, guardian or caretakers’ consent. This will be upheld during the vaccination of children,” said Mwebesa.
Mwebesa stated that while the government would like to boost the immunity of children against COVID-19 through vaccination, discussions are still ongoing with all the key stakeholders including parents on the best approach to be undertaken.
“The Ministry of Health together with the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) after consultation with the Cabinet will inform the public accordingly, “he said.
This week, the leader of the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED), Joseph Kabuleta, threatened to expose government officials at the ministry of health who are pushing for the vaccination of school going children despite knowing the side effects of the vaccine.
Health experts and activists have on several occasions warned the government and school administrators against vaccinating children without parental consent, saying that statistics indicate that children are least likely to suffer from severe COVID-19, and when they do, the cure rate is as high as 99.9percent.
A recent sero-survey indicates that the COVID-19 risk prevalence in children is not different from that of adults, except the risk of death.
Last month, First Lady Janet Museveni advised the Ministry of Health to make Covid-19 vaccination for children below 18 years optional.
