By Lydia Maganga, MANA
Journalists in the country have been advised against sensationalizing reporting on the CoVID-19 vaccines but rather give out correct information to the public so that the uptake of the vaccine increases.
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This was said by Malawi Red Cross Society acting director of programme, Patrick Phiri on Saturday during an orientation meeting in Blantyre where journalists were oriented on the best reporting practices on CoVID-19 vaccinations.
He said that there is a lot of misinformation going around in the country about CoVID-19 vaccinations and this has led to the low uptake of the vaccines.
Phiri said Malawi Red Cross Society has trust in the media in communicating clear information to the public, and the training was vital to iron out some misinformation so that the media could be well equipped with expertise to communicate effectively on CoVID-19 preventive measures and vaccinations.
He added that now that the country was experiencing the CoVID-19 third wave, it was very important that a lot of people get vaccinated to reduce the number of deaths and hospitalization in the country.
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“We support government’s effort in fighting this pandemic,” he said. “We believe it is our duty to complement government’s efforts by encouraging the public not to listed to all these conspiracy theories about the vaccines and rather focus the good that comes after getting the dose.”
Phiri said in an effort to fight the third wave, Malawi Red Cross Society has come up with the response plan which is budgeted at K5.4 billion and revealed that they have already sourced K2.5 billion from their partners.
He went on to say they were optimistic that the deficit from their CoVID-19 response plan budget will be outsourced so that as an organization they can widely communicate and respond.
Acting Deputy Director for Health Education Services in the Ministry of Health, Mavuto Thomas said since last week, the number of cases of people testing positive for CoVID-19 seems to be slightly declining and the number of admissions was also slow.
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He said although these are positive signs, the country still has a way to go as the number of deaths remains constant which is worrisome.
Thomas said the country was losing about 23 people on daily basis which was high enough and worrisome.
He attributed the rise in number of deaths to people coming late to health facilities, and urged people that are diagnosed with CoVID-19 or have symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pains, and loss of speech or movement, to immediately visit the hospital for medical assistance.
Thomas revealed that 87 percent of people who are admitted in hospital facilities have not been vaccinated, which shows the importance of getting vaccinated to avoid hospitalization and even death.
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According to Saturday’s situation report from the presidential task force on CoVID-19, the country registered 276 new cases, 148 new recoveries and 14 new deaths.
Of the new cases, Blantyre registered the highest at 75 followed by 58 from Lilongwe, 21 from Zomba, 20 from Mangochi, 13 from Mzimba North, 12 from Salima and 10 from Kasungu.
The 14 new deaths were three each in Blantyre and Lilongwe, and one each from Zomba, Nkhata Bay, Mulanje, Dedza, Thyolo, Rumphi, Mangochi, and Machinga Districts.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 57,896 cases including 1,955 deaths at case fatality rate of 3.38% and in total 42,838 cases have now recovered at recovery rate of 74% — bringing the total number of active cases to 12,871.
There were 38 new admissions in the treatment units while 37 cases were discharged. Currently, a total of 310 active cases are currently hospitalised with Lilongwe and Blantyre as the highest at 76 each.
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The positive cases out of the total number tested in past 24 hours of Saturday translated to a positivity rate of 17.2% while a weekly positivity rate (seven days moving average) is at 17.8%.
On CoVID-19 vaccination, a total of 724,837 vaccine doses has been administered in the country so far — with 463,848 people having their first and 159,229 receiving the second dose of AstraZeneca.
The is a a total of 102,120 people who have received Johnson & Johnson vaccine that the country started administering since last week with 19,022 having had their jab over the past 24 hours of Saturday.
Cumulatively, 261,349 people are fully vaccinated and the country has also received 119,040 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under the COVAX facility and is a donation from bilateral partners, the British Government.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
