GABORONE, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Botswana on Wednesday launched a communications campaign aimed at addressing fears, misinformation, doubts and frustration regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Speaking during the launch cerenomy in Gaborone, Minister of Health and Wellness Edwin Dikoloti said Botswana is on the eve of rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination and "to achieve this, communication becomes critical to ensuring that the leadership, community and stakeholders are informed, engaged and mobilized to elicit intended responses and outcomes."
The campaign was launched under the slogan "ArmReady For Lemao" (ArmReady to receive the vaccine). The goal of the campaign is to allevate apprehensions about the vaccine, promote its acceptance by public through timely dissemination of accurate and transparent information.
The campaign comes after some countries issued temporary bans on the use of AstraZeneca's two-dose vaccine following reports of people developing blood clots shortly after vaccination.
Botswana will go ahead and use the Covishield vaccine the country received from India last week, Dikoloti confirmed, adding that they have satisfied themselves with the safety of the vaccine and taken advice from WHO on the use of the vaccine.
Botswana has launched the online registration platform that will allow individuals willing to be vaccinated to register. Enditem
