Covid-19 vaccine: myths, conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories, mistrust and poor communication have contributed to a flourishing of disbelief about Covid-19 vaccines in Africa, especially Nigeria. In this report, DOOSUUR IWAMBE examines how these theories pose dangers in the fight against Covid-19 and future immunization campaigns.

Ms Ada Okoh is a 22 -year old hair stylist residing in Sauka village, a densely populated suburb in Lugbe, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, who carry on with her daily task of attending to her customers every day without adhering to the covid-19 guild lines.

She told the Sunday Times that her mother warned her not to take the covid-19 vaccine. “My mother warned me that I should never take the COVID-19 vaccine because she does not want to lose another child. She believes that I will die if I take the vaccine”.

Another resident of the community who simply identified himself as David share the same views with Okoh saying, “I will not take the vaccine because I was made to believe that people that took the vaccine are having stroke while some are developing new illnesses. I will rather take precautions and obey the COVID-19 guidelines than take the vaccine”.

Goodness Gbenga on her part strongly believe that the vaccine is a conspiracy theory to deceive Nigerians adding that the vaccine could alter DNA.

“I won’t take it because the vaccine could be deadly, and it alters DNA. I subscribe to this theory because I am still skeptical as to how the vaccine was found so quickly.

‘’Why have they not found vaccine for HIV which has lived with us for years now, Malaria and even cancer? The covid-19 vaccine is a scam for me; count me out’’, he added.

Many other Nigerians like Okoh, David and Gbenga have expressed divergent views on the COVID-19 vaccines currently been administered in Nigeria. While some believe that the vaccine will help in reducing spread of the disease, many still believes that it has more disadvantages.

For instance, majority of the people of Waru community believe that taking the vaccine will be against their religion and cultural beliefs.

About 26km from Abuja city centre, Waru community is located in very close proximity to the popular and busy Apo Mechanic Village. The community appears peaceful and is populated mainly by indigenous Gbagi families and internally displaced persons fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency.

Speaking with this reporter with the help of an interpreter, Kabiru Aminu, a trader in the community said; ‘’It is a taboo for me to take the vaccine. My culture does not permit that’’.

Asked what he take whenever he fall sick, he said, ‘’ we have different types of herb mixture that cures all sicknesses. The herbs will make my body immuned against any sickness including covid-19. Therefore, I do not need any vaccine’’.

Another resident of the community who identified herself as Lare said, “I will not take it because I have no sickness in my body that needs the vaccine.”

On her part, Ademola Olufunke, a teacher said; “I don’t want to be part of the test-run. In Nigeria, it takes courage to trust anything presented to you. I am afraid of this government.”

Gift Riman, a student residing in the community noted; “To be frank, I won’t take the jab, not as long as I am still in Nigeria. With the whole confusion going on in the world right now, I do not think I know what to trust.”

Moise Shittu, a 28-year-old okada rider in the community said that he would refuse a vaccine. “Our government is into fraud,” he said. “They are saying there is coronavirus in Nigeria to make money”.

41-year-old Zainab Abdullahi who also share the views as others said that she will not take a jab.”We are seeing reports of serious side-effects from people who took the shot and they still want to bring the vaccine to us,” she said.

Vaccine is safe —– UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF had advised Nigerians to take advantage of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by taking the vaccine to reduce spread of the disease.

The UN body while calling on Nigerians to stop spreading rumours about the vaccine warned that everyone was at risk of contracting the virus.

UNICEF Specialist, Communication for Development, Mrs Elizabeth Onitolo who gave the advised during a three-day media workshop in Yola, the Adamawa State Capital said, “COVID-19 vaccine is safe; the vaccine has been certified safe by the World Health Organisation and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

“COVID-19 does not contain any micro-chips as is being speculated in some section; there is a need to continue to wear face mask even after vaccination’’, she said.

Onitolo urged the media to help address the rumours and myths around the COVID-19 vaccine by telling Nigerians the efficacy and other benefits of the vaccine.

Also, the Director, planning research and statistic, Adamawa state ministry of health, Dr Stephen John debunked rumours of blood clot surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine.

He pointed out that the outcome of a recent research conducted revealed there is no link between the vaccine and blood clot.

“Contrary to allegations of blood clot that was mentioned about the AstraZeneca vaccine, a recent research that was carried out revealed that there was no link between the vaccine and blood clot.

“Where is this story coming from, don’t be surprise that there are other organisations from the back ground pushing this falsehood as part of their marketing strategy.

“Every vaccine has its side effect. Even paracetamol that we take everyday has its side effects. It can eat up your liver like acid once taken in excess. Penicillin also has its own side effects. Nigerians should disregard the rumour and go for the vaccine.”

For his part, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins while stressing the need to address the situation by helping communities and individuals overcome their fears said, the faster people get vaccinated, the less likely the pandemic will overtake the world.

He said, “Vaccine hesitancy is something that will happen, and we need to work now in addressing the different ways of helping the communities and individuals overcome their own fears, because at the end of the day, if they protect themselves, they are protecting their families and communities.

“The quicker we get people vaccinated, the less likely the pandemic will overtake. That is why it is important that Nigeria get the vaccine quickly. The COVAX facility has done extremely well to bring this amount 3.94 million doses into Nigeria and I urged them to take advantage of that’’.

Vaccine hesitancy will prevent Nigeria from achieving herd immunity -Experts

Meanwhile, experts in the nation’s health sector have said that vaccine hesitancy will not only threaten COVID-19 response but will also prevent Nigeria from achieving herd immunity.

The Public Relation officer, National Hospital, Abuja Tayo Haastrup said that the hospital set a good record by presenting its doctor to be the first to receive the jab in Nigeria.

He added that within two weeks that Nigeria receivedthe AstraZeneca vaccines, there was a large turnout of people coming to take the the jab.

He added that the hospital we created two venues for the vacination because of the large turn out. ‘’At the trauma center, we created some rooms and we also we created another to accommodate the everyone.

“I am sure it was because of the awareness and media support within the period that encouraged people to come out for the vaccination. Unfortunately, the turnout is decreasing. The place is not as populated as it used to be when we started,” he said.

Chief consultant National Hospital, Abuja, Dr Rais Ibrahim, says as a healthcare provider, he has taken the vaccine so he can render his services to Nigerians.

‘’People are always resistant to change and new things but with time people will see the benefit of taking the vaccine. If you protect yourself, by extension your family will also be protected”, he added.

What UNICEF is doing to prevent vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria

In a bid to raise more awareness on the need to get the vaccine, UNICEF is working with local authorities, religious, traditional and influential individuals especially, in some Northern part of the country to prevent vaccine hesitancy as well as reduce the number of people who will succumb to the pandemic.

According to Borno state UNICEF Communication Officer, Folashade Adebayo, the UN body is working hard to dispel conspiracy theories around Covid-19 vaccines to ensure that what happened in Borno state during the early stage of polio immunization does not repeat itself in the state in the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination exercise.

“We all know the rumours and resistance that happened during the polio vaccination which caused a lot of deaths,” Adebayo said.

“We want to reduce the number of people who will succumb to Covid-19. There was hesitancy at the early stage of polio immunisation and this cause a lot of damage and we don’t want such that incident to repeat itself.

We present scientific evidence to them ensuring that the right information is out there and that people take the vaccine and also continue to practice non-pharmaceutical interventions.”

Adebayo noted that a total of 75,510 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine was deployed to Borno state adding that about 31,604 persons have been vaccinated.

According to her, the state has recorded 1,337 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1200 persons discharged, 99 active cases and 38 deaths.

How information campaigns can improve vaccine acceptance

People living in rural areas are among the most vaccine-hesitant in Nigeria,

Adebayo Abidemi, a surgeon at Gwagwalada specialist hospital revealed.

He said that information will play a key role in sensitising the people on the need to accept the vaccine.

He said that while some of the people in the rural community have little or no knowledge about the disease and vaccine, some believe that it is a rich man’s sickness. This situation added can hamper the nation’s ability to achieve herd immunity and put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“More than 1 in 5 rural residents say they will definitely not get the COVID-19 vaccine. This is compared to 13 percent of adults in suburban areas and 10 percent of adults living in urban communities.

“To achieve herd immunity, we have to get to a point in which enough people will have immunity to the disease. That is, where it can no longer spread throughout the population. And for us to get to that point, at least 70 to 90 percent of our population will need to be vaccinated”.

He further stressed the need for government at all levels, foreign partners and stakeholders to create more awareness to sensitise the people on the need to be vaccinated.

Pharmacists Osayamen Olaye said, ‘’Overcoming widespread COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will take a concerted public health messaging campaign that encourages hesitant individuals to vaccine.

‘’Exposure to messages highlighting the economic risks of failing to vaccinate against COVID-19 will increase the intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, on average, compared to a control message.

Therefore, I believe that once people talk freely about this and the need to take the vaccine, it will go a long way’’.

What Nigeria should do to increase vaccine acceptance?

Accurate information unique to Nigeria’s peculiar landscape needs to be developed and extensively disseminated to help Nigerians differentiate between fact and myth so they make informed decisions about their health.

The 1,717,515 Nigerians who have been vaccinated should be encouraged to share their experiences. People want to hear testimonies of people who have received the vaccines with no side effects. This will encourage and motivate them to take the vaccine.

While fact-checking organisations and government institutions continue to support by debunking rumours and misinformation, more innovative communication channels should be introduced to engage and correct misinformation especially in communities.

Community mobilisation with the support of religious and traditional institutions to pass the right message about the vaccine at the grassroots is key to addressing concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Effective vaccination campaigns should aim to carefully explain in simple language a vaccine’s level of effectiveness, expected side-effects and the importance of population-wide coverage to achieve herd immunity.

It is important that health institutions and the government build trust through clear and transparent communication about the vaccines. Key messages should be passed in local languages through appropriate channels to key audiences.