Prof Sanjay said that “Maintaining trust and goodwill is key for the vaccine uptake by the community. We should be transparent about the harms along with the benefit of the vaccine.
Our opinions tend to be polarised through social media. We need more experts to be neutral to the science and critically appraise it without pre-formed bias. This will increase trust in the translation of the science and how it may benefit the community.
In addition, we should have more vaccine roadshows in shopping complexes, workplaces, and community centres. We can also take advantage of local community settings such as the PPR or local villages to promote a better understanding of the vaccines.”
Prof Victor response was “There are two main reasons why people are still not registering for the COVID-19 vaccine through MySejahtera. They are technology and trust.
On the topic of technology, there are many people who do not have a smart phone, so they are not able to register. Even people with smart phones, some may not know how to register.
The second issue on trust, people have the perception that the vaccine is unsafe, and some vaccine is better than others. When I was have having a community engagement with some residence there are still many people who do not trust the safety of the vaccine. They are worried about the adverse effects and dying after taking the vaccine. They inform us that they received much news through the social media and friends about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
Both these issues can be addressed using all the Government machinery and not just the Ministry of Health. Everyone should do their parts; the Ketua Kampung, Penghulu, ADUN, MP, etc. They should organised campaign to help the people to register and also to clear the doubts of the people regarding the safety of the vaccine, thus addressing the technology and trust issues.
The community engagement session that I had last week was organised by YB Michelle Ng the ADUN of Subang Jaya addresses these two issues.
However, before the Ketua Kampung, Penghulu, ADUN, MP, etc organised this campaign, all of them should have completed their vaccination. This is to ensure that the people would have confidence in the safety of the vaccine.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.