{"id":3484,"date":"2021-09-23T07:28:29","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T07:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho"},"modified":"2021-09-23T09:47:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T09:47:02","slug":"raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho","title":{"rendered":"Raising faith in COVID-19 vaccines in Lesotho"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Lesotho<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Myths and misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines are rife in Lesotho, where over 85% of nearly 500 health workers surveyed recently report widespread misconceptions.<\/p>\n

A rapid survey, conducted in July by the World Health Organization (WHO) the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners covering five of Lesotho\u2019s 10 districts showed conspiracy theories may be driving up fear, confusion and reluctance to get vaccinated in this highly religious society.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest fear was to be dragged into some cult and get the mark of the beast, so I watched and waited for others to get vaccinated to observe their health and behaviours,\u201d says Mamookho Masamane, a church leader in the northern region of Leribe.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that over 90% of people in Lesotho are Christian, and religious leaders are loved, respected and followed. The church provides over 40% of Lesotho\u2019s health services through a network of hospitals, health centres and nursing colleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand our calling is not just church-based, but it is also community-based.<\/p>\n

We are trusted by people and what we communicate can influence their decisions,\u201d says Mapoloko Mabena, Secretary of the Christian Council of Lesotho in the northern city of Butha-Buthe.<\/p>\n

With support from WHO and the Christian Council of Lesotho, the Ministry of Health is training religious leaders to spread life-saving facts on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to each training, participants are asked how much they know about COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n

Most say they have very limited information, while some say they have no information at all, so we\u2019re working to build up this knowledge,\u201d says WHO Immunization Officer Selloane Maepe.<\/p>\n

Six training sessions for 50 religious leaders have taken place in five of Lesotho\u2019s 10 districts so far, starting with the northern districts of Berea, Leribe, and Butha-Buthe, as well as Mafeteng and in the capital, Maseru, which have all been hit hard by COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never believed in this vaccine.<\/p>\n

I never wanted to take it myself or to encourage others to get it, but through this teaching I realized that a lack of information is actually a sin and getting vaccinated is important.<\/p>\n

I will share what I learned with everyone in my village, with friends and my church-mates. \u201d says Mamookho Masamane at a training session in Leribe. With a population of 2.1 million, Lesotho has recorded over 14 000 cases of COVID-19 and over 400 deaths.<\/p>\n

Nearly 10% of the population have received a first COVID-19 vaccine dose. \u201cThe ability of religious leaders to effectively participate in responding to outbreaks depends on their understanding of them,\u201d says Dr Richard Banda, WHO Representative in Lesotho.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese workshops aim to impart knowledge to religious leaders as they play a crucial role in community mobilization, raising awareness, dispelling myths and misconceptions, boosting vaccine acceptance and bringing compromises where public health measures are considered to be discordant with religious values.<\/p>\n

\u201d
\nThe Ministry of Health, WHO and partners have five further workshops planned with religious and community leaders in five districts in the next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Myths and misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines are rife in Lesotho, where over 85% of nearly 500 health workers surveyed recently report widespread misconceptions. A rapid survey, conducted in July by the World Health Organization (WHO) the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners covering five of Lesotho\u2019s 10 districts showed conspiracy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,6,7,8,16],"tags":[233,246,270,245],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-files","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-covid-19","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nRaising faith in COVID-19 vaccines in Lesotho - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Myths and misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines are rife in Lesotho, where over 85% of nearly 500 health workers surve ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raising faith in COVID-19 vaccines in Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Myths and misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines are rife in Lesotho, where over 85% of nearly 500 health workers surve ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-23T07:28:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-23T09:47:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/09\/img-614c4cf80c6ea.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"863\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Raising faith in COVID-19 vaccines in Lesotho\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-23T07:28:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-23T09:47:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/09\/img-614c4cf80c6ea.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"COVID-19\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"files\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/raising-faith-in-covid-19-vaccines-in-lesotho\",\"name\":\"Raising faith in COVID-19 vaccines in Lesotho - 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