Joseph Kabuleta, party president for National Economic Empowerment Development (NEED), while addressing journalists last week at the party offices, urged Ugandans to reject vaccinations of any form, especially those for COVID-19, claiming that 99.8% of people who got sick from COVID-19 did not die from it as it is not a serious sickness.
“Please listen to me, fellow Ugandans, never take any vaccinations, they are not necessary, especially for COVID-19. They are lying to you; no one dies of COVID; it is only old people with other illnesses like HIV who died of COVID. I got it and healed without treatment or vaccination; please listen to me; I did not die because it’s a simple disease that you just sneeze out and be fine,” said Kabuleta.
Kabuleta added that, from his personal research, the Pfizer vaccine is responsible for the heart complications developed by pregnant mothers and their children.
“Especially Pfizer, most mothers lost their pregnancies and their children developed heart diseases. You don’t want to believe me when I tell you these things, but please trust me; I have done research on vaccines for 15 years. Even if I am not a medical doctor, just trust me; statistics don’t lie,” said Kabuleta.
According to Kabuleta, 99.8% of people who got COVID did not die. All the people who got sick with COVID did not die of it, they healed naturally. Whoever got vaccinated is the one who died.
“These politicians were selfish, they just wanted donor money and lied to us that COVID kills. Now that the statistics have spoken, no one has died from it apart from the old with other diseases,” he said.
However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Worldometers.Info, a total of 6,882,708 people worldwide and 3632 in Uganda died from COVID.
“WHO Covid Updates as per May 24th 2023 and 26th May 2023, total number of Covid cases worldwide: 689,274,736, deaths: 6,882,708, recovered cases: 661,653,441, active cases: 20,738,587, mild cases: 20,700,393 (99.8%), and serious ones: 38,194 (0.2%),” reads the WHO report on COVID-19.
According to WHO, Uganda Covid cases totaled 170,775 as of May 24, 2023, with a total of 26,406,939 people vaccinated as of March 24, 2023.
“In Uganda, the total number of cases recorded was 170,775, deaths were 3632, and recovery was 100,431; the reporting period is between January 2020- 24th May 2023, and as of 25th March a total of 26,406,936 vaccine doses had been administered,” reads the WHO report.
The statistics Kabuleta quotes are a misrepresentation of all the COVID-19 data. This is a fraction of mild cases, as per the WHO report. He zeroed down on the active mild cases standing at 20,738,587 (99.8%) and used these figures to lie to the public, alleging that it was the total number of people who got sick.
With politicians like Kabuleta who twist data and information for personal gain, is society safe at the hands of their misinformation game?