Health authorities in Pochalla County in Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) on Monday launched a campaign to vaccinate 15, 315 people with the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in parts of the county.
Amen Opiew, the county health director, told Radio Tamazuj that the drive will run for a week and that about 70 individuals have already received their jabs.
“We received 15,315 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We launched the campaign today (Monday) 20 June and it will end on 27 June,” he said. “Today (Monday), we have already vaccinated about 70 people, especially women.”
Opiew said they expect to exhaust all the doses in a week because the turnout is high among the locals.
“The local population, especially women, are turning out to be vaccinated in a big number. We trained vaccinators from all the Payams and I think the reason for this turnout is that they have known that the vaccine is safe,” he added.
Elizabeth Akweleng Deng, a businesswoman in Pochalla, said she was initially hesitant but decided to get vaccinated after realizing that the vaccine would save her life.
“Those who got vaccinated from the beginning are still alive and healthy. So I do not see any reason for hesitating anymore,” she said. “I am a mother of 5 and now 35 years old. I got my dose before and I am normal.”
Another Pochalla resident, Othow Okoti, who also got a jab said the vaccine is safe and called on the people to ignore the myths about the vaccine.
“No vaccine is manufactured in South Sudan. The ones like that of Yellow Fever and the ones used for her children are brought from outside,” he said. So, there is nothing specific about the Covid-19 one. I received a dose today (Monday).”