As a responsible business that has been in operations in Namibia for the past 101 years, we are determined to do all we can to help protect our customers, employees, communities and continent from the coronavirus.
Old Mutual therefore fully supports the voluntary vaccination programme being led by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and believes that collaboration between the public and private sectors, is critical in achieving success.
We are working closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Services and other private sector partners to promote and help facilitate a smooth and effective roll-out of vaccines. To this effect, Old Mutual has contributed N$1 million towards the procurement of vaccines through the Vaccines for Hope coalition, an alliance of more than 50 private sector partners and individuals who are coordinating support towards the procurement and administration of COVID-19 vaccine in our country.
Additionally, Old Mutual has launched a public awareness campaign, themed #Ons is saam which means ‘we are in it together. Through this campaign, we aim at creating awareness and inspire collective action to mitigate, minimise and manage Covid-19 and its effects.
While we respect individuals’ freedom of choice, we encourage everyone who can get vaccinated. The fact is we’re in it together and we all have an important role to play in helping to reduce the severity and scale of the pandemic.
COVID-19 has caused significant devastation across the world, and according to experts, the virus could be with us for some time. If we do not remain active, educated, and motivated to beat the virus, complacency could set in. This could lead to an unnecessary spike in infections, sickness, and deaths, leaving the virus to remain a real threat to people across the continent.
Last year, on the 28th March 2020, Old Mutual pledged N$5 million towards the nationwide efforts to help address some of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic focusing on specific areas. These were the N$1 million support to the vulnerable individuals and communities through food supplies that benefited over 3 000 people across all our 14 regions; over N$2,7 million spent to scale up COVID-19 testing capacity, and N$1,3 million targeted contribution to the National Disaster Fund to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
We encourage every citizen to continue wearing a mask, maintain social distance and ensure proper hand hygiene.
Choose to vaccinate. Protect tomorrow.