BY JOANITA NANGONZI.
dailypressug@gmail.com
The covid19 vaccination campaign in schools and the public is underway. But various parents and leaders in the Mpigi district are concerned about their children being vaccinated without their consent. The leaders and parents think the jabs could turn out to be dangerous to their children.
Fears in Mpigi emanated from the March this year incident where a student Jonah Luyinda died on suspicions of reacting to Covid19 vaccine. Before the official government announced mass vaccination of children between 12 and 15 years, Luyinda, an S.2 student of St Martin Secondary School, Jjanya Mpigi was vaccinated against Covid19 but afterwards battled multiple organ failure until he was pronounced dead. It is alleged that Luyinda was forcefully inoculated and his parents were not involved.
Although Luyinda’s demise has not officially been attributed to Covid19 jab, rumours surrounding his death have dominated parents’ conversations for the better part of this year. The ministry of health has up to date not confirmed or dismissed whether Luyinda’s demise was caused by Covid19 jab or he had other underlying health conditions.
As President Yoweri Museveni roots for massive vaccination of people aged 12 to 17 years, parents in Mpigi are scared about vaccines. Many believe Covid19 vaccines are dangerous to their children, cause heart failure and infertility.
Parents continues to say that they should first request for their consent before vaccinating their children because its their right and it provides an opportunity for the parents to share about their children’s health conditions.
Prossy Wamala, aresident of Bujjuuko has two daughters but she is scared of what would happen to them after they have been vaccinated. She says her daughters have some allergies. In response to parents’ fears, Emmanuel Alinabyona, the ministry of health spokesperson, said that it is safe for the children to be vaccinated.
“The vaccinators should first get parents’consent before inoculating any child. This is the legal way of doing this. The parents have rights over their children’s lives and it also helps to know about any allergies of that particular child,” Ainebyona said.
.Vaccination for children is safe
Dr Daniel Kyabazinga, an epidemiologist study coordinator in Uganda said that before recommending Covid19 vaccination for children, scientists conducted clinical trials and it was proven that the jabs are safe for children.
“Ongoing safety monitoring shows that Covid19 vaccination continues to be safe for children. The known risks of Covid19 and possible severe complications outweigh the potential risks of having a rare, adverse reaction to vaccination,” Dr Kyabazinga said.
Dr Kyabazinga added that vaccination continues to protect children against severe diseases, including hospitalization. He, however, added that there is no way to tell in advance how children will be affected by Covid19 jab.
“Children with underlying medical conditions are more likely to get severely ill from C0vid19 and healthy children without underlying medical conditions can also experience severe illness,” Dr Kyabazinga said.
The World Health Organization-WHO said all Covid19 vaccines have undergone clinical trials and therefore children and adolescents are safe. WHO explained that Covid19 vaccines are effective in preventing the severity in children and adolescents in case they contract the highly contagious disease. Children with comorbidities and severe immune complications should be prioritized.
The direct health benefit of vaccinating healthy children and adolescents against Covid19 is lower compared to vaccinating older adults due to the lower incidence of severity among younger persons. As children and adolescents tend to have the milder disease compared to adults unless they are in a group at higher risk of severe Covid19. It has been found to be less urgent to vaccinate young persons compared to the aging, elderly, and persons with underlying comorbidities.