Health experts have dismissed as a myth the common belief that being African is enough protection against Covid-19.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union deputy secretary general Dennis Miskella on Tuesday said even though the virus did not cause a devastating impact in Africa as had been anticipated, there are no proven studies to link the low numbers to being African.
Miskella spoke on Tuesday during media training on vaccine hesitancy in the country, organised by the Media Council of Kenya, KMPDU and KMET.
This is after a survey conducted to find out the reason for vaccine hesitancy in the country showed some Kenyans still believe being African is enough protection hence no need to go for the jab against the virus.
According to Miskella, some Kenyans still believe that the vaccine causes erectile dysfunction while others were of the opinion that the vaccine is laced with family planning chemicals.
“Some people said they reported increased appetite and you have to respect that opinion because culturally when you are in Kakamega and someone starts spreading rumours that their appetite increased after taking the jab it leads to an impact on the uptake,” Miskella said.
Other factors that came out to be leading to vaccine hesitancy include the fact that some people preferred the single-shot vaccine thinking it was more potent while others simply avoided the vaccine for fear of the injection.
“There were those who are spreading rumours that if you take the vaccine you will have to stay away from alcohol for days so those who are addicted fear going through withdrawal symptoms,” he said.
“Others say they had the disease and never died but we have seen some of those who have been spreading false information pay with their lives."
There has been low uptake of vaccines in the country despite the government's effort to ensure at least 70 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated to attain herd immunity.
This has been attributed to the relaxation of containment measures by the Ministry of Health early last year, which made Kenyans develop a mentality that the disease is over.
