THE RADIO BROADCAST AND ITS IMPACT ON COVID 19 VACCINATION CAMPAIGN IN CROSS RIVER STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The globe has been surprised by a new Coronavirus outbreak, which first appeared at the end of December 2019 and is now known as COVID-19 (Basch, MacLean 2019). As of recent, the mortality rate of COVID 19 has increased significantly. The emergence of covid 19 vaccines came as a huge relief to the world. However, the COVID-19 vaccine has been met with both excitement and trepidation. A significant portion of the world population remains skeptical of a COVID-19 vaccine, with a high percentage unsure if they will be vaccinated and a lower percentage unlikely to do so by the end of 2020. The level of vaccine hesitancy in anticipation of vaccine approval by regulatory agencies has increased now that the vaccine is available, particularly for high priority health care workers and vulnerable populations. COVID-19 control is heavily reliant on its uptake(Krause, Freiling 2020). As a result, the impact of public risk communication efforts on vaccine effectiveness, safety, and availability is critical to vaccine uptake. Furthermore, risk communication efforts can be carried out via a variety of information channels. The public's perception of information channels and the channels used to receive information about COVID-19 and the vaccine will determine the likelihood of achieving satisfactory levels of vaccine uptake.

However, demonstrating that a COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective can only be a game changer if uptake is high enough to stop the virus's spread. According to models with an 80 percent vaccine efficacy, the percentage of the population that needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity (depending on factors such as the basic reproduction number, the duration of vaccine-induced immunity, and whether vaccines prevent transmission. (Krause, Freiling 2020) observed that current vaccination intentions are far from sufficient to achieve this aim. A sizable proportion of the worldwide population reports being hesitant to be immunized, and while vaccine hesitancy varies, it remains alarmingly high in many countriesi. As a result, despite recent improvements in some countries, rates of vaccination intention in most countries remain below the percentage required for herd immunity.

The media has  played a significant role in the spread of covid 19 vaccine news. Misinformation about the vaccine circulated through the different forms of media, and it has gotten worse since the vaccination was introduced. For example, there have been widespread conspiracy theories that the virus was created as a government bioweapon and that it was caused by 5G cellular networks and that the vaccines are harmful to them. (Basch, MacLean 2019) discovered that low quality sources on COVID-19 that were unverified and appeared to promote misinformation were more frequently retweeted than those with high quality information linked to verifiable health authorities.

Radio broadcasts have impacted on the spread of vaccine information and  are airing a variety of programming to raise awareness about the COVID-19 immunization and to combat misinformation (Hamel, Munana 2013) The programs include local immunization news, interviews, and vaccinators' experiences, as well as others. Radio programs are receiving information on why the COVID-19 vaccine is important from a public health and socioeconomic standpoint, as well as who will be vaccinated first in the radio broadcast area, how the vaccine will be available, what to do after vaccination, and when Government instructions will be issued.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Radio broadcast has without doubt been very impactful on the spread of coronavirus and subsequently the emergence of vaccine. There have cases of misinformation about the vaccine spread on radio. Coronavirus vaccine has been known to save lives and this misinformation has greatly impacted on the efficient vaccine application (Hamel. Munana 2013).

Additionally, people living in the rural areas have not had access to the vaccines and most pointed to the fact they were not privy to the information of the existence of the vaccine and the schedule for vaccination. Is the radio really doing enough? Has the impacts of radio broadcasting of the vaccine been felt?

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of this study is to assess the radio broadcast and its impact on covid 19 vaccination campaign. Other objective of this study are:

a)       To examine the relevance of radio broadcast on covid 19 vaccination campaign

b)      To examine the effectiveness of radio broadcast on COVID 19 vaccination campaign

c)       To examine the level of accuracy of information spread by radio broadcast on covid 19 vaccination.

1. 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

a)       How relevance is radio broadcast on covid 19 campaign?

b)      How effective is radio broadcast on covid 19 vaccination campaign?

c)       How accurate is the information spread by radio broadcast on covid 19 vaccination?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be beneficial to the medical field as it will help them know and make effective policies that will aid in the spread of accurate information about covid 19 vaccine. It will also be of great benefit to the media world as the results will show how impactful media is on the spread of broadcast messages about covid 19 vacciantions.

Finally, this study will serve as existing material for further research and future reference.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will assess radio broadcast and its impact on covid 19 vaccination campaign. It will also examine the relevance of radio broadcast on covid 19 vaccination campaign and will also examine the effectiveness of radio broadcast on COVID 19 vaccination campaign.

Cross River Broadcasting Corporation will serve as a case study for this research.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to radio broadcast and its impact on covid 19 vaccination campaign. It will not feature on any other form of media and type of campaign. The results of this study will be limited to Calabar as the University of Calabar will be used as a case study.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Radio broadcast: messages broadcasted through radio

Impact: a marked effect or influence

Vaccination: A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease.

Campaign: an organized course of action to achieve a goal.