KAMPALA – When the government first rolled out the use of Astra Zeneca, it informed Ugandans that the vaccines would be brought in phases and would first benefit the front line workers.
Many Ugandans as usual waited to see the effect the vaccine would have on those who first took the jab and before long, the vaccines were done yet the numbers of covid patients was on the rise.
Naturally, this shortage brought in the usual panic-phobia with others seeking preferential care by asking to be vaccinated at work in exchange for money.
It is alleged that these people were made to pay 100,000/-200,000/ for a vaccines that was otherwise intended to be free. Was it a show of might or comfort for those with a financial muscle?
It is said that the Nakawa Resident City Commissioner raised a red flag that some people were carrying out suspicious Covid-19 vaccination at Kiswa Health Centre, a government aided health facility under KCCA.
A trap was laid by state house and security resulting into the arrest of two nurses mid last month. It was alleged that some people were vaccinating people with a substance not being the recommended astra Zeneca, others claimed it was distilled water.
During the security operation, the detective also impounded a book with a list of people who had been “vaccinated” at the facility. However, the detectives said something that caught my eyes and ears.
They pointed to the impounded substance as a “drug” that did not pass through the right channels of government. One would be right to conclude that the detectives had a pre conceived idea about the substance even before carrying out a lab test.
It is said that one of the items that the detectives impounded was a book that had names of the vaccinated person, their NIN numbers as well and serial numbers of certificates awarded to them as proof of having been “vaccinated” and it is obvious that the long term plan was to include them in the national data base for those who had taken the jab.
I strongly believe that this same substance was used on many other people across the centers designated for vaccination.
This certainly means there are so many people who received the fake vaccines and issued with fake vaccination certificates. I also believe these same mafias could have imported fewer vaccines and supplemented them with fake ones or they could have stolen the real vaccines and replaced them with the fake one.
Otherwise, why would the national medical stores disassociate themselves with the batch numbers found on the impounded substance?
After an analysis of the exhibits, it was confirmed by Dr.Namara, the head of State House Health Monitoring Unit state house that an undisclosed number of employees of Tororo Cement, United Bank of Africa, Dott Services, Diamond Trust Bank, Uganda Bati, Madhvani, Seven Hills among others together with over 800 unsuspecting individual members of the public were victims of the racket and were injected with the substance.
Am lucky that prior to this scandal, I and a certain doctor friend had attended one of the vaccination sessions at Kololo Airstrip with a sole aim of picking atleast one of these used covid bottles. Our aim was to identify a bottle with some residues in it so that we would take it to the lab to understand the combination of the drug.
However, the nurses were guarding the used bottles with their lives as if they were a piece of gold. At first I thought it was a directive from Government to ensure that the bottles were all kept safely away from the public.
It was until this scandal that I was able to conclude that these bottles should have been refilled with that fake substance with the knowledge of those in charge of the vaccination program and brought back to the public domain to mint money or for accountability purposes.
Atleast I can attest that one of the entities- a banking institution that sought vaccination from this racket has so far lost three of its employees including a human resource manager. I am hoping that these three deceased persons had not taken the fake jab before their death.
The head of State House Health Monitoring Unit has since consoled the people who took the fake Covid jabs saying they should not get worried as there is a possibility that the fraudsters could have injected them with water or some other harmless substance.
The same State House Health Monitoring Unit also pointed to a possibility that these people could have packaged the substance in stolen covid 19 bottles.
Why use the phrase stolen bottles as if the government was packaging the astra Zeneca drug right here in Uganda or that the used bottles were kept somewhere after use and some unscrupulous people stole them. Have they checked their storage facility to establish if their bottles were stolen?
Although the detained nurses were found at KCCA premises in Kiswa and had KCCA identification tags, it is alleged that they were not employees of KCCA which begs the question, how did they access KCCA premises at Kiswa.
Am left with no option but to conclude that there is a big shot in the ministry of health behind this scheme but as usual, it is the small fish- the nurses that will suffer the wrath. We are told one of the doctors in the syndicate is on the run.
All in all, I think the people managing public relations in this country are really wanting and are causing us embarrassment. Some linen however dirty must always be kept behind the curtains for the sake of national integrity. Now the entire world is looking at our covid vaccination certificate s suspiciously and aware that many Ugandans are in possession of fake covid 19 certificates which they obtained without taking the jab or taking a fake jab.
Already, many well to do countries are excluding visitors without a Green Pass; a Green Pass is a vaccine passport that allows people to travel within the EU from commencing July, 2021, as long as they have been vaccinated with a certified vaccine such as Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna, Vaxzervria by AstraZeneca-Oxford and Janssen by Johnson & Johnson. The green pass will also provide data about whether the person had Covid, has recovered or was recently tested.
What is disturbing is that the green pass can be given to those who have been vaccinated with Vaxzervria-the AstraZeneca vaccine produced and authorised in Europe yet Covishield vaccine produced under authority by the Serum Institute of India does not qualify under the green pass.
The contradiction is that this vaccine which is a sister vaccine to astra Zeneca have been financially supported by the world health organisation and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. To turn around and restrict those who have been vaccinated by these vaccines which seem to be now banned is discriminatory.
This is part of the conspiracy that Ugandans should not fall prey to. Imagine Covishield is one of the vaccines promoted by the world health organisation and yet the new green pass policy means that persons who received the Covishield doses, despite being able to demonstrate proof of vaccination, will face public health restrictions, including limitation of movement.
I hope somebody is not planning to introduce another vaccine with a better and streamlined vaccination programme.
The author, Roger Wadada Musaalo is a Lawyer, human rights activist, researcher, and politician
