DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has identified myths and misconceptions as the reasons for many people being reluctant to take the Covid-19 vaccines in uThukela District.
The department identified uThukela District, namely Ladysmith and surrounds, as the district with the lowest number of vaccinated people.
Simelane was on Tuesday conducting door-to-door home visits and engaging with locals at Ekuvukeni, eMnambithi, as part of the Siyagoma WayaWaya vaccination programme, in a bid to cajole and convince people from local communities to vaccinate.
The department had previously stated its target was to reach seven million people or above, however, only 2.9 million have been vaccinated thus far.
Simelane said it was extremely worrying that the numbers had been the same for more than four months.
“Out of the 2.9 million, it’s mostly people who are insured; those in rural areas and townships are not coming out to vaccinate. This is why we decided we need a programme that specifically targets communities to ensure they understand and get explanations about the vaccine,” Simelane said.
The Ekuvukeni area had the lowest number of vaccinated people in the district which was part of the reason the province and the country was not reaching population immunity.
“We have only vaccinated about 198 000 people out of 500 000 people who were registered. This alone is an indication of serious worry.
“We have found a number of myths and misconceptions making the rounds. Most of them come from social media platforms. Some show that people think vaccinated people die because of the vaccine, the young generation think they will not be able to have children while men think they will become impotent.”
It had come to the department’s attention that most people needed a clear explanation about the vaccine and how it works, she said.
“We believe our engagement directly as the provincial government led by Premier Sihle Zikalala and district officials should produce different results from the methods we have been using sending messages through radio and television.”
Daily News