The Ministry of Health has recorded an increasing uptake of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the President, Yoweri Museveni and wife, Janet Museveni were vaccinated. This has been revealed in a statement by the Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive that was rolled out on 10th March 2021 with 964,000 doses of vaccines acquired through donations is being done using the AstraZeneca vaccine. 17 days later on March 27th when the President was given his first dose of the vaccine, only 46,664 people had been inoculated.

“In the last few days, the demand for COVID-19 vaccines has soared beyond what we recorded two weeks after the launch,” the statement from Dr Aceng reads.

Currently, over 144,000 people have been vaccinated with the 1st dose of  AstraZeneca, according to the Minister of Health.

To boost the vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health has now lowered the age of priority people targeted for vaccination.

“All persons aged 50 years and above and those 18 to 50 with comorbidities such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, liver/heart/kidney disease are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination,” Dr Aceng says.

At the commencement of the vaccination drive, only health workers, teachers and security personnel were eligible to get the vaccine. Later, people aged 70 years and above were added to the set.

Alcohol and the COVID-19 vaccine

The Minister of Health has also clarified on matters concerning the consumption of alcohol after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to Dr Aceng, there should be no problem with taking alcohol after getting vaccinated.

“There is no scientific evidence to show that when you are vaccinated against COVID-19, you should stay away from alcohol for 40 days,” Dr Aceng says.

However, the Minister has warned that excessive consumption of alcohol compromises the immunity of an individual.