By: Karimatou Jallow
The coronavirus pandemic has been a global problem since 2019 and first entered the Gambia in March 2020. The Gambia government had some tough preventive measures in place in the beginning, however, it has now taken its foot off the gas, and this has become a concern to many Gambians.
The Fatu Network has spoken to some Gambians who have said people should believe in the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic and also follow the WHO preventive measures to prevent themselves and their families.
Saidou Jallow said he believes in the existence of the virus and will ensure sure that he prevents himself from the virus by following the preventive measures given by the WHO.
Jallow added that Gambians should be cautious because this is a pandemic that has affected the globe especially businesses which were affected so, in order to regain what was lost during the pandemic, people have to respect the guidelines given by the WHO.
“Most Gambians don’t believe the existence of this virus because they just heard it from people and were not affected but that should not be an excuse for not following the preventive measures because the government is here for the people and am sure they will not lie to us especially when it comes to our health”, he added.
“The government don’t take these preventive measures seriously so how can they expect us to take it seriously, a leader should go by example at all times but that is not the case within the government,” Ebrima Kujabi said.
He said that most people are unwilling to take this vaccine because they believe it has some negative impacts.
He said all the people he knew who have taken the vaccine have fallen sick which is what discourages him from taking it.
However, he advises the people to believe the existence of the virus and prevent themselves from it by following the preventive measures given by the WHO and the ministry of health.
“Coronavirus is here to stay with us and not believing its existence wouldn’t help. Let’s try to protect ourselves by following the preventive measures because we have seen how it affects the globe.”
“The reason most people are reluctant to be vaccinated is that some of those who took the vaccine has been sick for days which many believe is not a good sign.”
Moreover, he said in order to make things easy and eradicate the virus, the people should follow the advice of the health ministry.
“The Ministry of Health is taking all the steps to protect the people from having viruses so let’s listen to their advice and make things easy with all of us,” he said.
“Nobody cares about the COVID-19 pandemic because the preventive measures given to us by WHO are not being carried out like before and this is because they believe that the virus does not exist and people are just fabricating things,” Jainaba Jatta said.
Jainaba said they were not affected which is why they still believe that the virus does not exist.
“However, I will advise every Gambian to follow the guidelines of the WHO to prevent ourselves, friends and family members from COVID-19 because I believe that the virus is still existing,” Jatta said.
She further advises the government to keep sensitizing the people about the virus to prevent people from getting the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many sectors in the country and has one way or the other affected everyone because people were restricted from many things. So, in order to avoid it happening again, we should follow the WHO preventive measures to prevent ourselves,” Ebrima Jallow explain.
Jallow said Gambians should believe the existence of the virus because many people lost life due to it and others were seriously ill.
