Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael is aiming to revise the division’s approach to covid19 vaccination education on the island. She hopes more people will be vaccinated as a result.
During an interview on CNC3’s Morning Brew show on Monday, BYisrael said she intends to shift the communication strategy used in Tobago.
“We are going to create an entirely new communication strategy as it relates to getting people vaccinated, as it relates to the questions and concerns that they have. So I think we just need to shift our communication strategy a bit and...I would take responsibility for (that).”
Up to Sunday, the division reported that a total of 23,515 people had received partial vaccinations of a two-dose vaccine and a total of 22,562 were fully vaccinated with either a one-dose or two-dose vaccine.
BYisrael said one of the issues which may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy is illiteracy.
“Somebody called me the other day and we recognised that one of the things that we may not have thought about is the fact that we do have a literacy issue in some instances.
“So some people are really afraid that if they go to take the vaccine, somebody would throw a paper in front of them and tell them, 'Fill out this form,' and they can’t.
“So my point is, you need to ask the question – why. ‘Why aren’t you going?’ ‘What are you concerned about?’ ‘What is the reason?’ ‘What is the root cause of your hesitancy?’
"And if we could answer those whys for them, I think we would have a much easier time.”
She referred to New Zealand, which has reached 90 per cent vaccination. She attributed this to the communication style, adding that when one looks at the processes the country rolled out to enable vaccination, they were very different.
“It was a much softer approach.
“If you recognise in different jurisdictions, the response has been different based on the mechanism used by those in authority – and honestly, I think that is where we fell down. We had this 'shout at you, get in the press conference and scream at you' kind of way of doing things, and that has not worked and it will not work.”
She said while she is encouraging people to be healthy, she is also encouraging them to exercise and eat the right diet, but it has been recognised for some people that may not be enough.
“Vaccination is one of those things that we have to push. We also have to push ensuring that our healthcare system is in a position to ensure that those who may have actually gotten sick and those who are weathering it otherwise, the other systems need to be able to respond to them as well.”
On the issue of mandatory vaccines, she said even then, communication is necessary.
"I think what we missed very early in the pandemic, or very early in this situation, where we are talking about vaccines, is to really communicate with people are about what these vaccines are, what covid19 is, how the vaccines actually help us – give them the information about how the vaccines have
