Kyabayinze however, says that they have so far managed to upload the data of three million people who took the vaccine between March when the country launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive and October, adding that their certificates are available.
The Health Ministry is yet to upload the data of the more than 6.5
million Ugandans who took COVID-19 jabs on its portal citing technical
challenges.
Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze,
the COVID-19 Incident Commander, says that they experienced challenges when many people turned up
for COVID-19 vaccination at the same
time.
//Cue in:” Data oyo tufunyemu
Cue out: ………..certificates zaabwe,” //
Between November and December, the MOH-based
epidemiologist, says that they have
vaccinated up to eight million people with at least the first dose and most of
this data has not yet been uploaded.
Kyabayinze however, says that
they have so far managed to upload the data of three million people who took the vaccine between March when the country launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive and October, adding that their certificates are available.
//Cue in: “Buli wetugema omuntu……..
Cue out: ………… google okalabamu,”//
However,
a check by URN revealed that the date of some people vaccinated between March and
October is still missing on the online Portal. For instance, Zainab Asuman, an elderly woman who took her first jab from
Kisenyi Health Center IV and her second from Kamwokya in early June still can’t
get her certificate.
According to her vaccination card, Zainab
received her first jab on April 2nd, 2021, and the second on June 3rd, 2021. She explains that her numerous attempts to retrieve the certificate only show partial vaccination.
//Cue in:”
Cue out: ………..
Kyabayinze says for such exceptions, the problem
could be arising from their places of vaccination where they could have delayed
transferring their data from the book or the card to the e-system, which is the responsibility of health workers or data
entrants under the supervision of District Health Officers (DHOs).
In Amuru, which is one of the districts that have
recorded a high number of COVID infections, the DHO Dr. Patrick Odong Olwedo told URN on Monday that they haven’t uploaded a lot of
data because the books that they use to record data at vaccine sites are the
same that are supposed to be used to enter the information on the on-line
system, something that creates delays.
//Cue in:” We end up with
……….
ue out: ………… begins to
accumulate,”//
On his part, Jinja DHO Peter Dyogo Nantamu, says that they specifically faced challenges in November when
they had over a hundred thousand people getting vaccinated in the same period
and yet they only have three
data entrants.
Worse still, he says that they needed to find a person who was specifically designated to focus on
helping those whose certificates are ready since not everyone has the
competence of generating a certificate online.
//Cue in:” For example Jinja ………..
Cue out: ………… generate a
certificate,”. //
Both officials
and individuals are struggling to process certificates. Recently, the Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth
Aceng said that starting March this year all Ugandans will be required to present
COVID-19 vaccination cards in order to travel.
She noted that the public has had sufficient time to get not just their first and second jabs but
also have data entered into the system. According to the notice on the Ministry of Health (MOH) website, a
person will have their data uploaded two weeks after the last jab but millions of people still can’t find their
information.
However, the World Health
Organization says it shouldn’t be mandatory for people to have a digital document to travel. In
its August 27th, 2021 dossier, the organization noted that they don’t support
the requirement of proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to travel although
they added for some countries, depending on their risk assessment, information
about vaccination against COVID-19 may be used to reduce requirements for
quarantine or testing upon arrival.
The organization notes that the certificate serves the same purpose as
the commonly used paper-based vaccination card. However historically,
paper-based vaccination records have presented many challenges such as the
possibility of losing or damaging the card, or even the possibility of fraud.
In Uganda, there are already reports of fraudsters processing
fake vaccination cards possessing stamps similar to those issued by MOH.
This digital solution with a special chip is designed to address these
challenges.
