Stakeholders including Government, Civil Society Organizations, Non-Governmental organizations, Youth influencers and citizens have been urged to play frontal roles in encouraging Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake so as to achieve herd immunity.
The Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist at National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom in Plateau State, Mr. Tobias Choji, made this call today at Greatlinks Continental Hotel Hall Gold & Base, Plateau State while speaking to youth influencers on COVID-19 Vaccine Safety & Effectiveness.
The program which was a townhall meeting was organized by Friday Bako with support from the MacArthur Foundation and the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) as part of project activities for Covid-19 Vaccine Public Awareness, Vaccines safety and effectiveness.
He said that the Covid-19 Vaccines have been certified safe globally because it has passed through the different stages of a clinical trial.
Mr. Tobias Choji, urged the Government to create an avenue for checking citizens that have taken the vaccine to ascertain those that have actually been immunized. He encouraged the use of “Seroprevalence”, which is a system of checking the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology specimens; often presented as a percent of the total specimens tested or as a proportion per 100,000 persons tested.
On Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental organizations, Mr. Tobias Choji, urged for more town hall meetings and avenues for citizens’ engagement to address lingering concerns and the dispelling of misinformation and fake news.
“Citizens must take their health seriously, and avoid taking information from unauthorized persons. When citizens also get information from town halls such as this, they should in turn be willing to sensitize their family members and immediate community.” He said
Implementing Partner of CITAD/MacArthur Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Public Awareness Project, Comr Friday Bako, said the objective of the town hall meeting is to get influencers who will learn about the Covid-19 Vaccine safety and effectiveness after which they can also create public awareness.
“The town halls have yielded positive results as this is the fifth town hall meeting in the series covering all the senatorial zones in Plateau state. We have seen an increase in the uptake of the vaccine as a result of several engagements held as such the need for more advocacy”
“Misinformation and fake news have been one of the major factors mitigating the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccines as such we are working to see how people can get sensitive information, reliable information and also accurate information concerning the virus and also the vaccine.” He stated
The high point of the town hall meeting witnessed participants assenting to become advocates and ambassadors for correcting some of the wrong perceptions that are contributing to the slow uptake of the covid-19 vaccines in their communities.
