By Agnes Kiconco

KIU, Main Campus - The Ministry of Health has urged older persons and those living with other health conditions that compromise immunity to obtain booster doses of COVID-19 jabs.

Speaking to the press, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said booster doses are authorized for all those above 50 years of age and have now passed six months after they finished their initial jabs.

The decision comes after the country confirmed 907 new cases according to COVID-19 tests done on December 26, 2021. The cumulative confirmed cases are 135,998. On December 25, 2021, 743 new cases were confirmed.

With the mounting number of cases, Health minister Dr. Aceng has announced the dire need to protect those at most risk of severe disease even though the country has not yet hit 50% vaccination coverage which is recommended for any country to start dispensing boosters.

The tremendous increase in COVID-19 cases is attributed to the discovery of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron which has been noted to portray mild infection despite its fast-spreading nature. Nevertheless, Dr. Aceng has warned the public to keep alert because, with the increase of new COVID-19 omicron variant cases, the few that can get severe infection would affect the already fragile health system.

She also noted that most of the people testing positive are travelers who arrived in the country through Entebbe airport from countries including Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates.

At the moment, with plans of doubling vaccination coverage, health experts continue to encourage the public to keep observing Standard Operating Procedures of wearing masks, physical distancing, and hand hygiene.