Sure, Vaccinate, and Then What?
Photo: Pexel
Nigeriand have not forgotten Pfizer's doomed 1996 drug trial against a meningitis outbreak in Northern Nigeria that saw 11 children die and dozens maimed. The fatal incident still carries an ominous warning that brand new medications are not to be trusted, a belief that has fuelled vaccine hesitancy among Nigerians.
As with many other countries, the low uptake of the covid vaccine in Nigeria has also been attributed to disinformation, a historical lack of trust in government initiatives, and denialism tinged with cynicism. But in a bid to dispel fears around the covid vaccine, President Muhammadu Buhari along with state governors and other public officials took their shot on national TV.
As at May 9, Nigeria with a population of 200 million had administered 1.6 million of the nearly 4 million doses of the Oxford, AstraZeneca vaccine it received in March through COVAX, the World Health Organisation partnership involving wealthy countries and nonprofit organizations aimed at providing vaccines for middle and low income countries.
But with expiration dates set between three and six months, poor road network and the decision of some state governors to not publicise their vaccination, which has deepened seeds of doubt about the vaccine, there's the risk that unused doses might end up in the bin.
"[Governor Nyesom] Wike and his family should take the vaccine on TV, then I will know it's safe for me," said Kanu, a Bolt driver, of his refusal to get vaccinated.
Alluding to Nigeria's low covid infection and death rate, he argued the government should focus on addressing multidimensional poverty and terrorism rather than covid.
"What people here want is garri," Kanu said of the government's seemingly misplaced priorities. "Nigerians are dying of hunger, not covid."
Godspower, another Bolt driver, shared similar sentiments on his decision to eschew the covid vaccine. He recounted how at the beginning of the lockdown restrictions in the southern city of Port-Harcourt, the police arrested him and others for violating curfew, then threatened to hand them over to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to quarantine if they didn't pay bribes. Luckily, police officers stationed at his workplace, a fast food restaurant, got wind of the situation and came to his rescue. As for the others, the bolt driver claimed he saw NCDC officials take them away in their vehicles ostensibly headed for the quarantine centre.
"I don't trust NCDC and their figures," said Godspower, adding that the covid vaccines are a ploy to solicit funds from the international community that would eventually end up in the pockets of corrupt government officials.
Aside from anecdotes centred on perceived government duplicity, the inability of public health centres to properly communicate the whys, whats, whos and hows to those getting vaccinated against covid is an issue.
For instance, at the clinic where I received the first dose of the vaccine, the nurse didn't explain why I had to wait 10 minutes after the jab or wait two months for the second dose. Neither was I informed of the potential side effects, or why a second shot was required. I, however, received a green card stating the name of the vaccine manufacturer, vaccination date and date for the second dose. On its back, the words "COVID-19 VACCINE IS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE" appear in caps as though screaming them will change the mindset of a sceptical public.
A more productive use of the space on the card's back would have been to list the side effects of the vaccine along with other pertinent information as not all Nigerians can go online to glean information on the covid vaccine as I did before visiting the hospital. What's more, the fact that not all Nigerians own smartphones or understand English, further underscores the need for health centres to aptly disseminate vaccine information at the point of inoculation. Otherwise, those who, for example, are unaware that fatigue, fever and nausea are normal reactions to the vaccine may unsurprisingly forgo the required second dose on grounds that the vaccine is defective or a government scam, scuttling the goal of thwarting the spread of the coronavirus.
If the Nigerian government is truly committed to vaccinating 80 million of its 200 million strong citizens, it must do more than make announcements to the public via text messages and radio jingles about vaccine availability, and ensure primary health care providers offer adequate information in English, Pidgin and local languages to those waiting in vaccination halls.
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