Infodemic Management’s Future with Media Trainer Kiran Maharaj and Researcher Dr. Chizoba Wonodi

Sabin Vaccine Institute’s Community Conversations on Vaccines, presented by Immunization Advocates, explores issues related to vaccines and immunization in low and middle-income countries through discussions with close-to-community professionals, including health workers, journalists, and researchers.

Co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined by Kiran Maharaj, veteran journalist and co-founder and president of the Media Institute of the Caribbean and Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network, and Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, researcher and principal investigator, founder of Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA), and Nigeria Country Director at Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC). They discuss the infodemic and approaches to mitigating the spread of misinformation and disinformation across science and health issues, including vaccines and climate change. Kiran and Chizoba consider how to build and sustain the level of vaccine acceptance in the communities and delve into the role of credible messengers and the media in managing the infodemic surrounding vaccines and immunization.

To learn more about Kiran and Chizoba’s thoughts on the role of health workers, journalists, media, and respected community leaders in addressing the infodemic to increase vaccine acceptance and demand, check out the key takeaways of this episode or the transcript.

Key Highlights:

• 03:05 – 05:10 – Understanding What the Infodemic is – The infodemic, be it mal-information, disinformation, or misinformation, is dangerous regarding health. The infodemic is one of the challenges faced by the WHO in the acceptability of vaccines. There is a need for the community to be aware of the detriments associated with the infodemic.
• 17:30 – 18:46 – Educate Respected Individuals in the Community on Vaccines – Respected individuals in a community are the people that are listened to by the public, so to combat the infodemic, they should be educated on vaccines and their importance health-wise. They would go on to spread the information faster and more efficiently. Respected leaders in a community can include school teachers and religious leaders.
• 26:36 – 27:55 – Benefits of Organizing Workshops and Seminars on the Infodemic – There is a challenge in understanding medical terms as it could be complicated. Organizing seminars will help to educate the general public and would generally lead to increased vaccine acceptance.

Connect with our Guests

Learn more about Kiran Maharaj’s work:

• Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network

Connect with Dr. Chizoba Wonodi on Twitter @chizobawonodi. Learn more about Chizoba’s work:

• Prioritization of pregnant individuals in state plans for coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination – American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria: Implications for vaccine demand generation communications
• Designing an SMS reminder intervention to improve vaccination uptake in Northern Nigeria: a qualitative study