KAMPALA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday received a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country grapples with a surge in the number of cases.

Museveni, according to a State House statement, received the booster dose while at his home in Kiruhura district, western Uganda.

Museveni, aged 77 years, urged the public especially those above 50 years to go for a booster dose to protect themselves against adverse effects of COVID-19.

"We said that this group should get a booster dose. But also, the ones below 50 (years) but with problems like diabetes, blood pleasure, cancers, etc., those ones should get a booster dose," the president said shortly after his vaccination.

Museveni, quoting his doctors, said for the booster to work well, one can get a different type of vaccine from the initial two jabs they got.

As the country grapples with the Omicron variant, Museveni urged the public to go for vaccination, noting that people who have been vaccinated two times quickly overcome it.

Museveni on Dec. 31 fully reopened the country's economy in a staggered way, with schools starting on Jan. 10 and other sectors like entertainment which have been closed for about two years will reopen on Jan. 24.

Ministry of Health figures show the country has been registering over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases daily. Results of COVID-19 tests done on Jan. 1 confirm 1,423 new cases. The cumulative confirmed cases are 145,963 since the first case was registered in March 2020. - Xinhua