In 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed “vaccine hesitancy”
as one of the ten greatest threats to global health. More than one and half
years later, the world is fighting against a pandemic that has threatened to
wipe up the human race. COVID 19 has claimed the lives of more than two million
people globally since its outbreak in 2020.Countries such as India and Brazil
are among the countries with the highest casualties. In Africa, statistics of
COVID 19 related deaths are sketchy owing to the poorly developed public health
infrastructure and testing. What however is undisputable is that the pandemic has
claimed the lives of many people. In the absence of an effective health
infrastructure, people particularly in rural areas continue to die quietly from
the virus. In Africa, the fight against the pandemic has also been weakened by
misinformation and religion. Ever since reports of the discovery of the COVID
19 vaccine began to filter in, there was a floodgate of conspiracy theories by
religious leaders on the vaccine. Reasons for reservations on taking the
vaccine varied with some religious leaders suggesting that once one is vaccinated
they automatically join Satanism. However, WHO has noted that vaccine hesitancy
is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence.
In my search for answers, this past week, I conducted an online survey (Whatsapp)
that probed reasons why people in Zimbabwe would consider not taking the COVID
19 vaccine. The majority of respondents
(60%) highlighted that their reason for not taking the vaccine were that they
did not know much about the COVID 19 vaccine, while 30% highlighted that they
do not trust the vaccine while a remaining 10% singled out their religious
belief as the major factor for them not taking the COVID 19 vaccine. In my view,
if this is representative of Zimbabwean society, it will fall short in achieving
population immunity which experts say would require between 80-90% of the population
to be immune. If results of the survey are anything to go by, then government
needs to share widely information around the vaccine.
Share information on the COVID 19 Vaccine
Among urgent issues that governments across Africa must deal with is
sharing widely on the vaccine. Little has been said about this vaccine, what
happens after vaccination, ,side effects etc. Recently there were reports that
twenty-nine people
in the United States developed some reactions after being vaccinated against
COVID 19 since the rollout began. All this information is fuelling the
anti-vaccination movement that is being led by various individuals, mostly from
various religions. The pronouncement by WHO on the threat posed by vaccine
hesitancy in achieving global health even before the outbreak of the pandemic
in 2019 was informed by past experiences of societies that refused vaccinations.
For example Polio vaccinations were boycotted in East Africa in the 1990s and
in northern Nigeria in the 2000s.More recently, In South Africa in July 2020,
people took to the streets of Johannesburg to register their concerns against
human trials for a potential corona virus vaccine. This was after the University
of Witwatersrand in partnership with Oxford University rolled out South Africa’s
first clinical trial, which would consist of two thousand volunteers. This
incident demonstrates concerns among some on the continent over vaccines that
people know very little about.
Among issues that African governments must tackle is the need to deal
with vaccine hesitancy that is inherent in most African societies due to lack
of adequate information and religious beliefs. This will greatly help increase
confidence .Misinformation on vaccine safety has eroded trust in our health
care systems. Rebuilding this trust is a herculean task but will take concerted
and multi-faceted efforts. Closely linked to this, is the need for governments
to communicate effectively and transparently regarding the full benefits and
risks of vaccinations going forward. There is no doubt that more pandemics will
visit us in the near future. Health personnel especially those in remote
districts must be trained to ensure that they give relevant and comprehensive
information in a respective and culturally sensitive manner. To effectively do this,
key stakeholders that can help easily propagate this message such as religious,
political and other leaders must be identified and equipped with skills to
effectively disseminate key
information to their followers. The assumption that radio and social media has
a wider reach has negatively impacted
access to key information by some sections of society. Added to this, well
thought strategies must also be devised to target marginalized communities that
may have less access to healthcare services.
In the final analysis, COVID 19 has demonstrated the urgent need for collaboration
between government and other stakeholders. Collaborations require strong
institutions that embrace transparency and accountability over use of funds.
Going forward, the challenge for our leaders and policy makers would be to craft
and design effective vaccination policies and bolster population immunity that
will help the continent combat future epidemics.
Rawlings Magede is a
Communication for Development expert who writes here in his personal capacity.
Feedback on vamagede@gmail.com
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