The government has warned citizens against sending false and misleading information on the COVID-19 vaccines saying only technically sound people should make comments to avoid causing anxiety and misconceptions around the yet to be rolled out drug.
While the government and health authorities have been working to contain the virus and slow down its transmission, they have also been struggling to put a lid on wild and baseless conspiracy theories around the pandemic and vaccines.
Church leaders including United Family International leader Emmanuel Makandiwa have made unsubstantiated claims about the vaccines while discouraging people against taking it once the roll-out begins.
Director for Epidemiology and Disease Control in the ministry of health and child care, Dr Portia Manangazira said it is improper and reckless for persons who are not qualified to comment on medical and scientific issues.
“So it’s in the best interest of the public that technically sound persons make the comments, recommendations and discussions around the vaccines. I have seen a lot of sentiments and emotions, but the deficiency in the technical detail of what the vaccines are made of and therefore the possible routes and mechanisms of protection.
“As with all infectious diseases, the current drastic preventive measures of lockdowns, masking up, social distancing and basic hygiene supported by adequate water and sanitation form the primary prevention strategies,” said Dr Manangazira.
A number of conspiracy theories are also black painting the new coronavirus vaccines, calling them Bill Gates’ efforts to insert chips into the body.
Dr Manangazira added that given the severity and extent of the pandemic and its possible duration for the next two years, population immunity must be guaranteed and vaccines are key in building up the required immunity.
“Fear, anxiety and some perceptions are from lack of adequate information regarding the Covid-19 pandemic itself being new and ever-changing. When there is an information gap, people tend to fill it up with emotion, myths and misconceptions and even negativity that we have seen in both resident and diaspora Zimbabweans.
“I would encourage people to choose life, acquire correct and factual information and share that rather than the trash we see circulating,” she added.
The spread of health misinformation has always had an ideological dimension. This is likely because the use of ideological concepts has been shown to be an effective strategy to draw people into a community and to facilitate the uncritical acceptance of contentious scientific perspective.
