Niël Terblanché
THE active, intentional, aggressive, and deceptive spreading of false information regarding the vaccines used against COVID-19 is misplaced and hampering Namibia’s efforts to protect all citizens from its devastating effects.
The Minister of Health and Social Service, Dr. Kalumbi Shagula said the 35 deaths ascribed to COVID-19 over the past two days is simply unacceptable for Namibia with such a small population.
“The misinformation campaign against vaccination is costing Namibia too many lives,” he said.
Dr. Shangula made the remarks a day after he and the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Namibia, Dr. Charles Sagoe-Moses met with religious leaders to find a way to address the false reports and to convince people to get vaccinated.
“Concerns over the new COVID-19 vaccines are misplaced because the Government will never do anything to harm the people of Namibia. The vaccination campaign has been sucked into a storm of misinformation fuelled by social media,” he said while addressing the meeting.
“In a way, the novel SARS-Cov2 virus has triggered two parallel pandemics: A biological pandemic which has spread to every country in the world causing illnesses and death, and a social pandemic of misinformation – an infodemic – spreading across social networks, which undermines the efforts being made to suppress the spread of the biological pandemic,” he said.
He told representatives at the meeting that it is the duty of all leaders, shapers of public opinion, and influencers to dispel the doubts which are continuously being spread about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
“I urge all community leaders, spiritual leaders as well as elected and traditional leaders to spread the correct messages about the vaccination campaigns as has been established through proper medical and scientific procedures which the Ministry of Health and Social Services strictly follows. As we continue to state, our national COVID-19 preparedness and response are informed by science and we will never do anything to cause harm to the Namibian people. In this light, we must join hands to counter and defeat this negative and retrogressive trend. We must do so vigorously and vociferously, putting forward clear, reliable and unified, and powerful messages. The extent of the problem demands that we must be uncompromising and deliberate,” he said.
According to Dr. Shangula, incorrect information is being spread innocently by people in some instances but others are actively, intentionally, aggressively, and deceptively spreading false information that has brought families hurt and anguish that could have been avoided.
He said the fake news not only slows the COVID-19 vaccination campaign down but it also affects routine immunisation programmes and undermines the public’s trust in health services in general.
He urged leaders to craft messages informed by shared concerns about the well-being and best interest of the people and the nation.
“This must be done in a way that the community will understand, grasp and internalise such messages to sharpen our preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our experts are at your disposal to share with you the latest scientific and factual information about COVID-19 and the vaccines,” the minister told representatives at the meeting.
Dr. Charles Sagoe-Moses echoed the health minister’s message and stated that Namibia has National Vaccination Deployment Plan with a clear vision and objectives that should be emulated by other countries.
The WHO representative said the vaccination campaign should be stepped up significantly because the pace at which it currently happens is too slow.
“At this pace, it will take us a very long time to reach the target of 60% to 70% of the population to achieve herd immunity,” he said.
Dr. Sagoe-Moses said the opinions and examples of religious leaders carry a lot of weight.
“The pandemic affects everyone so the religious community and the Government must sing from the same hymn book,” he said.
Dr. Sagoe-Moses said it is his sincere belief and hope that leaders will continue to contribute their necessary share to accomplish the task ahead.
