University students voiced conflicting responses towards the South Sudan govt’s required COVID-19 vaccination order.

Students at several higher learning institutions, notably the University of Juba, have had a mixed reaction to the government’s mandated COVID-19 vaccine decree.

As the infection rate rises, the government ordered that COVID-19 immunization certificates be required for entry to public institutions throughout the country, including universities and ministries, over the weekend.

No student must be permitted to enter the school grounds unless he or she has a valid COVID-19 immunization certificate, according to the order. It also prevents non-vaccinated people from entering all government buildings.

“If that’s the case, we have no choice but to take the jab,” Susan Joseph, a first-year student at the University of Juba, said to a City Review reporter.

“However, the government was not meant to enforce [the vaccination] since it is a personal health choice.”

She questioned the vaccine’s longevity and the country’s ability to keep it properly in the same publication seen by NCMP, considering the country’s temperature range of 85 to 98 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius.

“I heard that the vaccination requires a very low temperature, and our temperature is really high, and these are some of the reasons why people are afraid to receive the vaccine,” Susan said.

Gai Lino, a fourth-year computer science student, said the falsehoods surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccination were too frightening to bear, but he would take the vaccine for the sake of his academics.

“There are several concerns, such as people who take the vaccination dying after two years; they will not produce, particularly males; and you will be prone to any sickness since the vaccine weakens the body’s immune system,”

“I believe we can take it due to our studies.” “We want information, and it’s becoming mandatory all across the globe,” Lino remarked.

However, one Applied Science student who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that nothing would persuade him to take the vaccination.

“I’ve heard a lot about this virus, as well as the vaccination. The issue is why are people across Europe protesting. As a result, it is a question of personal choice and health. No one should be forced to get the vaccination.”

“I know education is really important,” he said, “but I may decide to leave because I don’t want to take something [that] I don’t know what it does to my body.” said the student.

Despite a recent surge in infection rates, fewer than 1% of the country’s population has received the vaccine.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health reported 555 new cases in a week, bringing the country’s total COVID-19 infection to over 30,000 and 133 fatalities since 2019.

Many South Sudanese have been hesitant to accept their full doses, despite the fact that the nation continues to receive additional doses from COVAX thanks to US assistance.

Thousands of single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as AstraZeneca, were sent to the Ministry of Health in recent days.