SUBAIR MOHAMMED and EBOSELUME OLUTOLA monitored the vaccination controversies rocking Nigeria’s most populated state. Their report:
SOME residents of Lagos State have expressed fear and distrust over the ongoing vaccination in the state even as a senior media practitioner alleged that certain health officials were vaccinating students without the required parental consent.
Following a dip in public participation over a period of time, authorities have resorted to obtaining parental consent before school children are vaccinated.
Why parents are hesitant –Dr Oguntuwase
Reacting to the latest round of controversies as vaccination officials move from school to school in the state, the Director, Medical Services, Lagos State Health District III, Dr Adenike Oguntuwase, noted that the vaccine resistance is pronounced among the rich and the poor alike. She used Eti-Osa Local Government Area as a case study.
Dr Oguntuwase disclosed that both the rich and the poor and the uneducated in Eti-Osa exhibited hesitation towards the vaccine, adding that while the rich prefer to go to private health facilities to pay to get vaccinated, the poor and the uneducated fear it could harm their health. Despite the hesitation, she disclosed that 85 percent of the 510,955 residents’ population in the area has been covered in the ongoing vaccination.
She said: “We all know that Eti-Osa is a mixed community. It has both rural and urban populations. It is not just the rich and the enlightened, bur we also have the poor and the uneducated and those that don’t have any means of living. This makes vaccination a challenge.
“For the rich, getting access to them is a challenge. You have to go through series of meetings to get access to them. And eventually, when you gain access to a population of more than a thousand people, you won’t have more than 80 people come out for vaccination. This is vaccine hesitancy. They will tell you they don’t like anything that is given for free. They will tell you they don’t know why the government is making it free and that they don’t mind paying at the hospital to get the same vaccine.
“For the poor, they don’t have the right information. They believe the government wants to reduce the population with vaccines. They held that government wanted to kill their children with vaccines. But we have been giving the HPV since last year, how many people have died?
“Even pregnant adolescents didn’t see a need in taking the vaccines. Some parents held back their children then; that they did not want them vaccinated but now when the government brought it back, they are almost begging for it.
“Getting relevant knowledge about the vaccine is very important. We are fully covered in Eti-Osa for immunisation. The immunisation is for children under five years of age. The vaccine is free of charge but we must take consent before it is administered. It is against the policy of the Lagos State government and the national policy on immunisation.
“You cannot give a minor a vaccine without getting the consent of the parents. We ensure we go all out to look for people and get them vaccinated. Within Eti-Osa, our children are protected from organism. They can’t come down easily with pneumonia. I want you to encourage everyone within your community to bring those children to the PHC to get protected against childhood killer-diseases.”
Allegations not true –Programme coordinator
Debunking the allegations, Assistant Immunisation Programme Coordinator for Lagos State, Dr Adeniyi Adebayo, disclosed that the state government is concerned about the general wellness of the people. He wondered why a responsible government would want to reduce its nation’s population.
Dr Adebayo identified three challenges affecting vaccination in the state as vaccine hesitancy, religious and cultural beliefs and misinformation. He urged community leaders, market men and women and religious leaders to encourage the people to take the vaccines.
Speaking on the vaccine hesitancy and death rumour, he said: “Our people need to disregard the rumour flying around about government wanting to reduce population with vaccine. This is not true. Vaccines do not kill but they keep everybody safe. Vaccines keep us alive. Vaccines protect against pneumonia, polio and other killer diseases in children.
“If we are vaccinated against TB, this means that we have immunity regarding those that have been vaccinated. We are protected against disease. Just last year, the Lagos State government introduced another vaccine into the communities, this is HPV. This is to ensure that our people are protected. Currently, we are running integrated supplementary immunisation activities but our challenges have been numerous.
“One of our major challenges has to do with vaccine hesitancy. This has to do with the refusal of the people in the communities to get vaccinated. When you take the vaccine to them, they will tell you they are not interested. Why? They don’t trust what the government is bringing to them. They held that vaccination is one of the ways the government is aiming to reduce the country’s population.
“But I tell people, one of our strengths as a country is our population. Therefore, there is no government that will want to reduce its own population. Vaccines are too expensive to be wasted. For example, one dose of HPV currently sells for N180,000 compared to between N60,000 and N80,000 it was sold for last year.
“So, there is vaccine hesitancy because the people don’t trust the vaccines. They felt the government is trying to reduce the population with it. They alleged that a foundation is working with the government to reduce Africa’s population. But I tell people, these are falsehood. They are thinking too far away from reality because the Lagos State government is all about the general wellness of the people.
“Misinformation is another issue. False messages travel fast. We see on the social media platforms fake news about vaccination. This is one of the problems we are facing. There is also cultural belief. This is about culture and tradition. Some people will tell you taking injection is a taboo in their family.
“Let me put this to you, as the government is encouraging the people to get vaccinated, getting vaccinated is not compulsory. We have some of our cultural beliefs that we need to sensitise the people about.
“Everybody is safe with vaccines. It doesn’t kill but vaccine hesitancy has become an issue in our communities.”
Parents speak
Checks by Saturday Tribune revealed that a lot of parents, especially those with children in private schools are dismissing the free immunization. The mass rejection is not limited to the island part of the state. On the mainland, schools’ WhatsApp platforms are showing more ‘No’ responses from parents than ‘Yes’ when the request was put to them.
The consent form seen by Saturday Tribune has the heading ‘Child Vaccination Consent Form’ and lists three vaccines for the ongoing exercise: measles (for nine months to 59 months or four years, nine months), yellow fever (nine months to 44 years) and HPV (for girls nine years to 14 years).
It is also says that after vaccination, “your child may experience effects such as fever or swelling at the injection site, which are common and temporary.”
The parental consent column reads, “I have read and understood the information provided about the measles, yellow fever and HPV vaccines. I agree to have my child vaccinated against these diseases.”
Most private schools put the form on the WhatsApp group platforms asking parents to simply say yes or no. In a particular school in Kosofe Local Government Area, only three parents said yes in the whole of the secondary school.
Penultimate week, immunisation officials reportedly claimed that HPV vaccine wasn’t available and not administered on the pupils of a private primary school in Ikosi-Isheri.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune, a father and businessman, Mr Nevobasi, expressed displeasure with the use of vaccines for immunisation.
According to him, vaccines have done more harm than good and he would prefer that the country opt for organic and natural options.
He said: “I have to be honest with you, my people and I are generally unreceptive of the use of vaccines for immunisation, and I will explain why. For instance, my people believe that these antenatal vaccinations and drugs are a means to reduce female fertility for population control, and if you look at it critically, it seems so.
“Let me cite an example. Before this time, an average African woman was capable of delivering 12 to 15 children conveniently. However, it is not the case anymore. Nowadays, once a woman births three-four children, she finds it very difficult to conceive. The same thing applies to men. It has been observed, especially among adults who received vaccines at their formative years, that their reproductive organs are not as potent as their counterparts who didn’t take vaccines.
“The most important thing to the African race is the security of our future generation. You can call it a conspiracy theory or not, but it is what it is. Moreover, for every vaccine, there are corresponding and even more potent herbs. Let’s look into the natural, herbal sector and refrain from the use of modern, laboratory-engineered vaccines.”
Mrs Favour Iziengbe was skeptical about the intent of the government’s campaign for vaccination.
While making reference to the COVID-19 vaccine, she said: “I was particularly not comfortable with that vaccine. As a matter of fact, no one in my family except my husband took the vaccine. The authorities were always coming up with one new and bizarre finding or the other. It left me confused. Today, my family members are fine. And I do not know anybody, not even my relations who travelled abroad, who contracted the virus. If this confusion continues hereafter, I will unapologetically refuse the use of vaccines and advise those close to me to so do, too.”
Opposing these views, Mr Oludotun Adeniyi believes that vaccine, especially in babies, is a laudable initiative that has done the population more good than harm since it was initiated.
He said: “Ever since the Expanded Programme for Immunisation was introduced in 1976, we have witnessed a great decline in the spread of certain diseases like polio. As a matter of fact, when it was introduced, over two million cases of polio were wiped away. I strongly believe that vaccination, if done the proper way, can go a long way in ensuring immunisation and improving the lives of people. I did it for all my three children and I don’t regret one bit.”
Also, Mrs Adeokun Abimbola, a graduate of Mass Communication, expressed the belief that vaccines are a necessity, particularly for children, because it prevents them from contracting certain infections.
“I believe vaccines for immunisation is a necessity, and one I would readily accept and advise others to do, too, because it prevents the recipient from contracting certain diseases,” she said.
In the case of Mrs Isaiah Taiwo, when asked whether or not she believed vaccines were a necessity for people’s health, she said: “Yes, I think it is necessary because it will safeguard us from disabilities, infections and boost our immune system. I also believe that it will also help us fight against damaging diseases. As a matter of fact, I will be willing to receive the yellow fever vaccine and tetanus toxoid.”
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