Academicians from the University of Malawi (UNIMA) under the ‘My Vaccine: Our protection Project’ are promoting a combined preventive vaccination programme with enhanced public awareness campaigns to enhance uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking during the opening session of a training workshop for journalists, religious leaders, community leaders, community influencers and women group leaders on Monday in Zomba, Principal Investigator, Yamikani Ndasauka said the project was initiated to address the dwindling numbers of people that have been vaccinated in the country
“We have specifically targeted community influencer’s because we believe they can better reach priority audiences, increase positive perceptions about the Covid-19 vaccination, and ultimately increase vaccination coverage,” Ndasauka said.
Zomba District Health Office public relations officer Arnold M’ndalira said they have experienced a low uptake of vaccine because people are skeptical with the introduction of the new Vaccines.
“We are appreciative of the partnership with various stakeholders including the My Vaccine; our protection project from University of Malawi which is helping our office to sensitize the communities on the benefits of receiving the Covid-19 Vaccine,” Mndalira said.
One of the Co-investigators under the project, Jimmy Kainja said that disinformation and misinformation is one of the leading causes of vaccine hesitancy in the country
Kainja adds: “The awareness campaigns therefore will focus on stimulating the individual and collective benefit of vaccinations amongst the communities and debunk the various misinformation that are being shared across.”
In agreeing with Kainja, Patuma Mdala who is chair for community based organisation (CBO) network whilst appreciating the training workshop for imparting her with more knowledge on the vaccine than she had already known said one of the reasons that is causing the low numbers of people getting vaccinated is because people are feeding each other with false information
“It is more important than ever to get vaccines to the unvaccinated. If we want to combat misinformation, it is key to mobilise more community influencers and provide much-needed information on Covid-19 vaccines to save people’s lives,” Mdala said.
My Vaccine, Our Protection Project being funded by OSISA commenced in October 2022 and will be implemented till April 2023. The Project seeks to counter misinformation by providing training and awareness campaigns that will help spread accurate messages about the Covid-19 pandemic and positive messages about the vaccination.
