Residents in Mukono Municipality have accused the Village Health Teams (VHTs) and other health workers in government hospitals of selling Covid-19 certificates to unvaccinated people.
At Mukono General Hospital and other mobile vaccination centers, Covid-19 certificates are on sale for between Shs30,000 and Shs50,000 depending on one’s negotiation skills.
Nalongo Fatumah Naluwooza, who heads all VHTs in Nama Sub-county, has shown dismay over this act done by her team, saying it undermines the efforts of getting a fully vaccinated population. She called upon the authorities to intervene in this matter before the situation worsens.
One of the students who is among the people who got the Covid-19 certificate without being vaccinated, said his friend who is a VHT helped him to get a certificate and also registered his name in the Ministry of Health system among those vaccinated.
“We negotiated the amount and settled for Shs30,000, which I paid and everything was done for me,” he said.
He added that the VHTs work with the medical workers who were sent to villages to carry out these exercises.
However, the residents attributed this to small allowance, allowance cuts and late pay given to the VHTs. They also said delayed transport refunds, which led some of them to stage a peaceful strike, can be blamed for the black market sale of Covid-19 certificates.
In Lugazi Municipality, Buikwe District, the VHTs were forced to break into the Town Clerk’s office in search of money for their allowances.
Additionally, to date people still have myths about the vaccines, which increases demand for the fake Covid-19 certificates as opposed to taking the vaccine.
The LC3 Chairperson of Lugazi Central Division, Kemis Lutanjani, said: “The responsible ministry should pay these people to fight the vice.”
The Town Clerk, Mr Nathan Kitakule, said the VHTs will be paid their salaries when the money is available to him.
However, the district health officer, Dr Stephen Mulidwa, said that inquiries and investigation are still ongoing concerning this matter of selling Covid-19 certificates. He warned all people who are engaged in such acts to stop or else will be arrested.
The Resident District Commissioner and chairperson of Mukono District Task Force, Hajjati Fatumah Ndisaba Nabitaka, also warned all VHTs and medical workers, who are engaged in such acts to stop with immediate effect or else face the consequences.
So far, the number of people in Mukono District who have been vaccinated with the 1ST dose is 150,427, cumulative number for 2nd dose is at 13,711.
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