COVID-19 Vaccine Demand Creation

May 27, 2022 | Webinars

COVID-19 vaccination programs are underway throughout Africa, but having the product on hand does not guarantee a public demand to get the shot. Communications specialists in the region face several challenges in convincing people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and those around them. They must find a way to convince those people who are vaccine hesitant, and in many cases actively resistant to getting vaccinated, in the face of widescale mis- and dis-information about the science and safety of COVID-19 inoculation. In this Media Dialog, Helena Ballester Bon, Communications for Development expert at the Eastern and Southern Africa office of UNICEF, will discuss the stages of creating vaccine demand, the short term and long-term strategies communications professionals use to create public demand, and she will address the role played by misinformation in limiting demand for the COVID-19 vaccines in the region. Helena will be joined by Kate Thomas, Internews’ Pandemic Media Mentor, who will provide advice to journalists and other content creators on how they can address the issues raised by vaccine demand creation in their daily media work.

Not Over – COVID-19 in East & Southern Africa -ESAR RCCE Media Dialogue with Prof Salim Abdool Karim

May 25, 2022 | Webinars

Professor Abdool Karim presents data and insights about an uptick in cases in the region, particularly in South Africa. In the past, trends first identified in South Africa have been a preview of things to come in the region. Karim makes a compelling case for why he is concerned when he hears the phrase “living with the virus” which is sometimes extended to the idea that we can get back to living ‘normal’ lives. He says we should instead look at what it means to be “living smartly with the virus”.

To explore what the information presented by Prof Karim means for journalists and their storytelling, Internews Pandemic Media Mentor, Adele Baleta, invites you to a discussion about an issue she faces when pitching stories and which may be very real for you too: despite the data, editors say there is pandemic fatigue. Do you want to pitch COVID stories, but they seem stale? How is your newsroom treating the story? How do you think the story can be kept alive?