13 Jun 2021

Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe has appealed to health officials to desist from administering the COVID-19 vaccine in a centralized location. 

Speaking during a kgotla meeting in Ghanzi on Thursday, Mr Lelatisitswe said concerns raised that the elderly could not access the COVID-19 vaccine due to long distances should be dealt with by spreading out vaccination points. 

He explained that COVID-19 vaccines should be administered in an open environment to reduce congestion and curb the possible spread of COVID-19. 

The assistant minister was responding to some concerns from the community that some senior citizens from Meriting ward did not have access to the COVID-19 vaccine because they were unable to travel to the community hall due to long distance. 

Meriting residents also pleaded with government to establish a health facility within their ward, saying they travelled a long distance to access a health facility at Bosele ward. 

Ghanzi North legislator, Mr Johane Thiite agreed that the ward should have a health facility, but cited lack of funds as a stumbling block. 

Mr Thiite said a decision had collectively been taken to redirect the constituency funds towards the rehabilitation of the Ghanzi old hospital as opposed to the Shishana Community Development Trust as initially planned. 

The hospital being repurposed to be an isolation centre, he said, could later, once COVID-19 abates, be used as a health facility that would serve Meriting ward. 

 

In an interview after the kgotla meeting, Mr Lelatisitswe hailed a decision to rehabilitate and repurpose the old hospital, saying if other government departments could take a leaf from this, it would reduce duplication of building structures. ENDS