Why are Nigerians Hesitant to Take Covid 19 Vaccine

By Olaitan Oye-Adeitan

Forming an arc and well sat in Africa’s largest studio, Radio Nigeria, Ibadan are these content providers.

They were actively engaged in an interactive session with facilitators before them.

The coming together of these media professionals was at the instance of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC  Media Action in partnership with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, Ibadan Zonal Station.

But what could be the focus of their deliberation which the serious attention it was accorded?

One may be quick it was politics as the political weather was already gathering momentum but no, it was something very vital to the well-being of Nigerians.

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Their subject of discussion was ‘Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitance ‘in line with BBC Media Action Development programmes which cut across health, resilience and humanitarian response.

The workshop aimed at training participants as content providers on interesting and creative ways of presenting information on Covid 19 Vaccines to the public to enable them to make the right decisions for healthy living.

It was discovered from the deliberations that the refusal of some Nigerians to take the vaccine was borne out of a lack of trust in their government on whatever it presents before the people, bad experiences of some individuals and undue pressure mounted on the citizens to take the vaccine which made them suspicious if there was foul play.

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The leader of the team, Deji Aroso said content should be more about the people and connect them emotionally.

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He advised the professionals to address misconceptions about the vaccine and build trust through their stories and programmes.

Head for Media Action, Uche Idu took the participants through practical sessions on how to package programmes that would interest the public.

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During group discussions, participants came up with a unique program for formats that could catch the attention of the public to achieve the main objective of encouraging more people to accept the vaccine.