Chairman, Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19, Prof Oyewale Tomori, has urged Nigerians to disregard rumours and baseless conspiracy theories about side effects of COVID-19 vaccines.
This is as he urged them to go ahead to take the vaccination.
He said that the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines across the world was a function of where it was tested and must record at least 50 per cent success level.
“We must count the benefits of the vaccines over the risks as no vaccine has zero risk level. Fortunately, no case of death has been reported as side effect in Nigeria other than the mild pains,” he said.
Tomori who spoke at this year’s Nigerian Academy of Science, NAS, Media Round Table Conference organised in collaboration with Vitafoam Plc in Lagos said that going by the statistics, only about one per cent of Nigerians had so far been vaccinated out of about 200 million people, which, he said, was far from the expected projection.
Theme of the conference is “Journalism, pandemic, and vaccines: Where do we go from here?”
He warned that if Nigerians did not change their attitudes and abide by the safety guidelines and protocols on COVID-19, the nation might witness a third wave.
“COVID-19 vaccine is meant to prevent infection from becoming a disease. It won’t prevent you from exposure, hence you must abide by the protocols,” he added.
President of the Academy, Prof Ekanem Braide, observed that in the midst of many interventions by countries, misinformation rumours and conspiracy theories and hesitancy had thrived.
That, according to her, had negatively affected the speedy containment of the pandemic.
“A number of NAS Fellows are on the front line of the fight against COVID-19. Some Fellows are busy in the laboratories while others have been appointed to serve as advisers on various national and international committees,” she said, adding that NAS had since the outbreak of the pandemic issued many statements on the presence of COVID, need for enlightenment and enforcement of non-pharmaceutical interventions, national lockdown, international cooperation, and hosted many webinars including four bilingual sessions.
Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi recalled that there were myths and facts about the spread, treatment, symptoms of the virus at the early period which created fears in the minds of many.
He noted that journalists’ consistent education of the public by providing the correct information about the virus had helped to diminish the fear.
Adeniyi who was represented by the company’s Commercial Director Mr. Sola Owooade, said: “This has ensured effective management of the virus, especially in developing countries. As frontline workers, we must recognise the risks journalists face as newsrooms across the country have made coverage of the pandemic a priority.
“Journalists should continue to debunk misinformation by providing life-saving coverage. They can achieve this by using verified data. Government should place journalists on priority list in areas of incentives for all categories of front line workers. Through researched and investigative journalism, misinformation about COVID will be reshaped,” he said.
Author and journalist, Dr. Olayinka Oyegbile described journalists as interpreter of technical and specialised information and data for the general public to understand.
He, however enjoined journalists to expose themselves to happenings in the field of coverage especially information on science.
“Make use of the search engine for whatever you need. Consider reporting what the body of academic research indicates rather than a single study. To get it correct, science is an exact field unlike humanity… We cannot depend on a single individual’s study,” he said, adding that journalists occupied a very important place in the society.
According to him, the framing theory employed by journalists enabled the public to make different choices about happenings in the society.
The social media, he said, was perceived either as blessing or curse considering its domineering presence in peoples’ life.
“We must guard on what we put because what we say is what people believe. The focus of journalists must all be on the truth. Have the journalists done enough in reporting science? How far have we gone in reporting COVID-19 in Nigeria? Journalists have done well but they need to do more,” Oyegbile said.
