The Namibian president Hage Geingob has said he delayed getting a Covid-19 vaccine because doctors had advised him against taking the AstraZeneca jab that was available locally.
He said he had to request for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from neighbouring South Africa.
“They tested me and said given my age and also my conditions like blood pressure and so on that I can get Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer and both we didn’t have here,” he said.
Namibia has had a spike in coronavirus cases, reporting more than 1,000 cases daily in the last two weeks. More than 100,000 people have been vaccinated.
Different governments issued recommendations on the age of people who should take the different Covid-19 vaccines available, after side effects were recorded among different age groups.
The World Health Organization in its last update, after rare blood clots were reported on people who had taken the AstraZeneca vaccine, said “its benefits outweighed the risks”.
