TIME: 3:50 PM EAST AFRICA TIME  on Thursday, 27 May 2021

COVID-19 vaccination programs are underway throughout Africa, but having the product on hand does not guarantee a public demand to get the shot. Social and behavioral scientists and communications specialists in the region face several challenges in ensuring that demand and uptake of Covid-19 vaccines is optimal. Understanding how people think and feel about the vaccine, what social processes influence its demand and uptake and how vaccination services need to be delivered to facilitate uptake is the core of the demand promotion work. In addition, collective efforts are also being undertaken in the face of widescale mis- and dis-information about the science and safety of COVID-19 inoculation.

In this Media Dialog, Helena Ballester Bon, Communications for Development expert at the Eastern and Southern Africa office of UNICEF, will discuss the stages of promoting vaccine demand and uptake, the short-term and long-term strategies communications professionals use to create public demand, and she will address the role played by misinformation in limiting demand for the COVID-19 vaccines in the region.

Helena will be joined by Kate Thomas, Internews’ Pandemic Media Mentor, who will provide advice to journalists and other content creators on how they can address the issues raised by vaccine demand creation in their daily media work.

Helena and Kate will share their expertise in a Zoom talk. You are encouraged to send questions to [email protected] before the Media Dialogue and, of course, are welcome to ask questions during the event.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Media Dialogue. We look forward to you joining us at 3:50 PM EAST AFRICA TIME  on Thursday, 27 May 2021.