Role of the media in addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

On the 24th of November 2021, the UN in Eswatini, in collaboration with the Health Promotion Unit in the Ministry of Health, hosted a seminar on the role of the media in addressing vaccine hesitancy in the country.

The seminar, attended by over 30 editors and senior journalists at the Rehoboth Guest in Mbabane, was aimed at equipping participants with accurate information and tools for supporting the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the COVID-19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Technical Working Group which comprises communication experts from partners involved in the response to the pandemic. The seminar also coincided with a webinar hosted by UN South Africa on the same topic, which the participants in Eswatini also attended virtually.

The RCCE has been tracking COVID-19 conversations on social media and found that there were information gaps and misconceptions regarding the vaccines; a situation which was affecting the rollout of the vaccines.

It transpired in the meeting that the slow uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines had become a risk as a large quantity of vaccines were due to expire in the next two months. Dr. Malvern Masango from the Ministry of Health reported that Government had improved management of adverse effects resulting from vaccination, which was the main challenge causing hesitancy. “The timeliness of reporting within 24hrs has improved from 30% in August to 74% now,” said Dr. Masango. “Case investigation within 24hrs  of reporting is now happening in all regions against one region in August and in improved proportion.”

The Ministry of Health has now developed a Causality Assessment Dashboard. 

During the discussion, journalists requested the Ministry to improve communication by organizing regular updates with the media and developing clear communication lines for enquiries.

The Health Promotion Unit committed to improved engagements with the media going forward.