ADECOTS Engage Community Leaders to Combat COVID-19
As one way of observing the 2024 World Immunization Week (WIW) and promoting the Moyo Ndi Mpamba COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign (Ndabaitsa), Applied Development Communication and Training Services (ADECOTS) held dialogues meetings with traditional and religious leaders, men and women, and youth groups from Thyolo and Phalombe districts.
Speaking during the community dialogue meeting at Traditional Authority (TA) Khwethemule headquarters in Thyolo, ADECOTS programs manager Damiane Chisikwa urged community leaders to take action against COVID-19.
“Basically, the dialogue meetings with the community leaders, men, women and youth groups were aimed at getting insights on their fears, perceptions, attitudes and readiness to the COVID-19 Vaccination campaign which ADECOTS rolled out in the two districts of Thyolo and Phalombe.
Statistics indicate that Thyolo and Phalombe have low uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. Thus, the campaign is targeting the two districts by addressing underlying issues such as myths and misconceptions that hinder people from getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Chisikwa.
ADECOTS is implementing the Moyo Ndi Mpamba COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign with financial support from The Access Challenge.
Quick findings of the community dialogues revealed that conflicting information and myths on the COVID-19 vaccine were some of the key factors that prevent people from getting COVID-19 vaccine.
“Some politicians are to blame for the increased number of people who snub COVID-19 vaccine in our area. In our setup, we believe what politicians say. So, at the onset of the COVID-19 some politicians were refusing the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic when they were campaigning. This resulted in majority of people in our area to believe that CVID-19 is not real,” said Godfrey Kamanga one of the participants from Thyolo.
He urged politicians to avoid politicizing COVID-19 pandemic, saying ministry of Health should be let alone to handle issues of diseases like COVID-19.
On his part, TA Khwethemule urged his subjects to get vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccine, saying they prevent people from preventable deaths.
The organization is working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Health through the district health offices (DHO) to mobilize people and promote positive behaviors in order to increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine.