At least 2,814 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Kololo Independence Grounds. This according to the Ministry of health, is the biggest number to be achieved from a single location in one day.
The vaccination drive, dubbed ‘Fenna Tugemebwe’, is a brainchild of 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 several other public and private sector players.
Of these, 2,483 received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine while 331 received their second jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The thousands of people that got vaccinated received free refreshments from Coca Cola, t-shirts and bags from UBL and a chance to take selfies and interact with their favourite celebrities like Azawi, Ykee Benda, Canary Mugume, Martha Kay, Madrat and Chico and sundry.
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.
Emmanuel Ainebyona, sp0kesperson 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.”
