Namibian Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula on Monday said the government aims to vaccinate around 750,000 people against COVID-19 by September end, reported CGTN Africa.
Namibia’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign was previously put on hold due to the unavailability of vaccines. The Namibian health authorities resumed the vaccination drive on Monday after receiving the delivery of 250,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses purchased from China.
During a daily COVID-19 briefing on Monday, the health minister said that the southwestern African nation shall increase the number of vaccination spots to reduce the long wait for vaccination.
“We resumed the vaccination campaign countrywide on Monday. I visited four of the vaccination sites around Windhoek. At all the sites I visited, there are long queues of people waiting patiently to be vaccinated,” Shangula said.
The Namibian health minister said that the country has observed the stabilization of new infections over the past weeks.
“We do not foresee an increase in the number of new infections beyond what we have experienced so far. We anticipate a gradual decline in both the number of new infections and deaths,” he said.
He added that the measures that were untaken to disrupt the COVID-19 transmission chain through limiting interpersonal interactions and the vaccination campaign are starting to show results.
Namibia has reported 112,824 cumulative confirmed cases and 2,532 deaths so far. About 87,778 people have recovered from the deadly virus.
Last week, Namibian President Hage Geingob announced the extension of current health measure regulations for a period of 15 days until July 31.
He called upon the public to avoid unnecessary movement and stay at home and reiterated that vaccinations remain an effective tool in limiting the chances of severe illness, hospitalization, and death.
Several African nations are currently facing the third wave of coronavirus. The Delta variant, the most transmissible, has been detected in 21 countries.
