Ominous signs of vaccine doubts among the people

 

 

I have remained quite silent since the tail end of the year in terms of writing, especially here. Some have even asked whether I have been silenced by the powers-that-be.

Fortunately, that has not been the case. I am not a self-aggrandising person, and I am quite sure that my place in the order of things is merely that of a “small punk”, a minnow among the giants in this field.

Why the silence?

First, the overwhelming health conditions we have faced over the past two months needs no explanation. I have never been a mere “armchair pundit” so the past sixty over days have been extremely fruitful, meaningful ones. Working together with many others, I have been busy paying my dues to the altar on which I worship – the altar of medicine and healing.

I have been active on the ground to provide both medical and social support to those who have needed it the most, the most vulnerable of our Malaysians, while working alongside our public sector colleagues who continue to slog on tirelessly.

Into this mix, add additional “ingredients” which have helped “spice” things up including quarantines and family members succumbing to health issues; and there you have the entirety of my routine.

The second reason for not writing is that I have had nothing to say, nothing new worth writing about, that is. Nothing which has not been said by me, or many other more senior, distinguished experts multiple times over the past few months when talking about Covid-19. On many issues, I think we have spoken up quickly and loudly to highlight salient points – and now it is just not good manners to say: “Well, I told you so.”

Sadly though, in most instances, our ominous early warnings have been proven to be right, though in my case personally, I have always hoped that Malaysians would prove me wrong.

Why am I breaking radio silence now? To share insights and perspectives which I think will be helpful. I have done this consistently in the past and will continue to do so for as long as I think that my penned words will be of benefit. This, I think, is the solemn task of a communicator in any field.

Earlier, I mentioned spending a large amount of time with healthcare personnel in multiple places and settings over the past few months. Although I already do it on a regular basis, most of my interactions are with professionals on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

I have spent these past two months working with Covid-19 frontliners such as nurses, medical assistants, care assistants, lab personnel and doctors both in the public and private sectors. In addition, I also interacted with the abangs, aunties and akaks in the streets, be they patients, or passers-by. It is from them that I have garnered and am sharing the following insights.

In total, I spoke to 326 healthcare workers and 581 members of the public. In the course of my conversations with them, I asked two important questions; Do they think the Covid-19 vaccines will work and are safe? Will they take the vaccine? The table below shows the result of my survey.

As I have mentioned previously, the scientific value of these street surveys are not of a level which merits publication in a highly ranked scientific journal. However, the information functions as a barometer reading of public sentiment.

What is worrying about the info being presented in the survey? Even among healthcare workers, less than half will take the vaccine when it is offered to them while among members of the public less than a third will take the vaccine. This may have something to do with their beliefs in the vaccine itself: only 48% of the public and 53% of healthcare workers think that the vaccines are safe and effective.

These are frightening figures, especially when we are all working with the mindset that vaccines are what will end the pandemic for us. Well, we may have all the vaccines we want, but if we have only a few who are willing to take them, there is going to be no end in sight.

A lack of belief in the vaccines does not mean that there is suddenly a huge number of anti-vaxxers who have popped up in Malaysia.

Rather, it is a reflection of the doubt and lack of understanding among many, including healthcare workers, as to the complex and complicated mechanism that has cropped up about vaccines, especially in the social media. This is a concept called vaccine hesitancy.

While others have talked about this, I am now able to share that with others alongside me, we are going to tackle vaccine hesitancy, specifically via an information and awareness campaign. Stay tuned. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.