How The Enugu State Government is tackling the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

There have been a few notions encompassing taking the COVID-19 vaccine even before they were found. The majority of those fears were a result of strict and social variables, as well as plain false information. Now that the vaccines have been made available in most countries, including Nigeria, Some people have expressed worries about the vaccinations’ efficacy.

Several factors bordering mostly on misinformation, false prophecies, and propaganda churned out by conspiracy theorists, Concerns about vaccine safety (side effects), bad impressions of healthcare quality in rural areas, weak support from traditional leaders, and mistrust in the government have discouraged people from taking the vaccines in the state.

Enugu state’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through the National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has continued to lead the state public health response in the state with oversight of the Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF-COVID-19). The state NCDC is also working closely with the State Ministry of Health to curtail the spread of the disease and protect the health of Enugu residence. The Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA), Dr. George Ugwu disclosed that the state government has trained over 1,200 health workers, who would ensure effective coverage of the vaccination in all the designated Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and general hospitals across the 17 local government areas of the state.

The ENS-PHCDA boss, who added that some mobile health teams will visit Churches and markets to ensure that every citizen is reached, maintained all 17 LGAs have effective cold chain mechanisms that preserve the vaccines to sustain their efficacy.

Dr. Ugwu therefore, expressed delight that the state’s unrelenting efforts in the fight against the pandemic as well as special interest in the provision of quality, accessible and affordable healthcare delivery services to the people to help boost the outcome of the vaccination exercise.

Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, reiterated the safety of the vaccines and urged those who have not been vaccinated or completed the second dosage in the first phase to do so, accordingly. Other strategies taken by the state government include the creation of awareness through its various means like Billboards, house to house sensitization, and mass media advertisement.

For Dr. Ibiam, a medical practitioner and resident of Enugu state, residents of Enugu taking the vaccine is a positive step to containing the virus and reducing the infection rate among people in the state. “It’s natural to have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. I know I did, but no one is better equipped to make choices for your health and your family than you. What you hear from the news, social media, and other people can be overwhelming. So turn to a trusted source: your health care team. As a medical practitioner, I ensure to give my patients the facts. Telling them all I know about the vaccines to help them make a fully informed decision. For me and most of my patients, the safest choice is getting the shot and the protection that comes with it, as soon as we are able”, he said.

A Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu dismissed skepticism toward COVID-19 vaccines as “propaganda” and encouraged the people of God in the West African nation to get vaccinated. “Forget all the propaganda going around; we have taken other vaccines for yellow fever and the rest,” Bishop Callistus Valentine Onaga has been quoted as saying in a Tuesday, March 30 news report.

Bishop Onaga, who had recently led members of the clergy, seminarians, and employees serving at his residence in getting the first round of the AstraZeneca vaccine, urged Nigerians to “get this (vaccine) so we can stop this thing (COVID-19) from spreading.”

The Local Ordinary of Nigeria’s Enugu Diocese said, “We are calling to everyone, every Catholic and every Christian, to go and take this vaccine,” adding that the inoculation will “help us worship better and will help us return to normalcy.”

Following Bishop Onaga’s vaccination, Dr. George Ugwu, the Executive Secretary of Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, assured the public of the vaccine’s safety, saying that the “nearly ten thousand (10,000) residents of Enugu State who have been vaccinated” have not “heard any severe adverse effect.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and medical professionals in Nigeria have reiterated the COVID-19 vaccinations’ efficacy and advised people to get them since they save lives. They made the claim at a child rights bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s media conversation on-demand development for COVID-19 vaccinations in Enugu State, in conjunction with UNICEF.

The vaccines were safe, according to the experts, and everyone should use them to help the government and relevant health authorities stop the pandemic.

Dr. Olufemi Adeyemi, UNICEF’s Enugu Field Officer, noted that despite UNICEF’s, the Federal Government’s, and partners’ efforts to stop the pandemic from spreading, public skepticism, hesitation, and conspiracy against the COVID-19 vaccines continued.

He stated that UNICEF and its partners would continue to respond to the four COVID-19 response pillars defined by the Federal and State governments following NCDC recommendations, emphasizing the importance of the mass media in the battle against COVID-19 and the importance of relying heavily on facts.

UNICEF and its partners were working together to reinforce messages about equitable access to healthcare, ending discrimination, and reducing social stigma by delivering daily updates to the public on the best ways to manage the pandemic and stay safe, according to Adeyemi.

Dr. Obasi Chikezie of the Community Medicine Department, Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) Teaching Hospital, presented a paper titled: Debunking Rumours and Conspiracy Against COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination, saying that the treatment of Coronavirus was expensive, but vaccination had provided a cheaper way to manage its treatment, and that no country was safe until all countries had the vaccine.

He dispelled misconceptions such as dying two years after receiving a vaccine, vaccines containing magnetic metals, causing convulsions, igniting electric bulbs, altering DNA, and causing infertility, which might lead to population decline, among others.

He claimed that these were false reports or assumptions made by bloggers to drive attention to their websites and to profit from the actions of some pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Nwachukwu Ugwunna of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, also highlighted that COVID-19 was real and that those aged 60 and up, as well as those with underlying medical issues, were at increased risk.

“Vaccination is a simple technique to overcome the virus or lower the chance of contracting the disease because people risk significant illness if they do not get vaccinated. The most important reason to be vaccinated is to protect ourselves and others.

“It is the actual vaccination, not the vaccines, that will prevent the pandemic. So, starting with the weakest and the oldest, everyone over the age of 18 years old should get vaccinated, since vaccines are the shots we all need to save lives,” he stated.

The Enugu State Government, new COVID-19 vaccination centers have been established in major markets, retail malls, and public locations.

These are in addition to the state’s existing network of more than 100 traditional vaccination clinics. The decision, according to Dr. George Ugwu, Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA), was made to make COVID-19 vaccination centers more accessible to citizens, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu.

Dr. Ugwu praised the state government for assisting with the COVID-19 immunization programs, particularly the installation and maintenance of cold chain equipment, accessories, and logistics to ensure a 24-hour power supply. The Enugu State executive secretary also urged all eligible citizens and residents (18 years and over) to be vaccinated.” COVID-19 vaccines are safe, secure, and designed to protect everyone,” he stated emphatically.

While federal and state agencies work together with the state government to ensure a more seamless and secure vaccination program, the Enugu state government’s strategies in public education and adequate monitoring of adverse events among those who have been inoculated to boost public confidence and trust in the system have helped the state government combat COVID-19 vaccine resistance.