Community dialogues launched in Uzbekistan to build the trust for COVID-19 vaccination

TASHKENT, 3 August 2021 – Тhe Service for Sanitary Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health in conjunction with UNICEF, WHO and Nationwide Movement “Yuksalish” launches community dialogues on COVID-19 vaccination, as a critical step to address fears and tackle rampant misinformation among  communities in the  country. 

The community dialogues are preceded by community consultations and will see Makhalla leaders and representatives of women, young people and religious leaders in all regions of Uzbekistan participate. 

“While the Government is rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination in Uzbekistan, engagement of the local communities in the promotion of the vaccination plays an important role”, said  Bakhodir Yusupaliev, Director of the Service on sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing and public health of the Republic of Uzbekistan.  “The dialogue will serve as a platform for the local leaders to voice their concerns from communities and propose their solutions to address the vaccine hesitancy among the population”. 

The first series of community dialogues, which kick started yesterday in Jizzakh region, will reach local leaders and influencers in all regions.

“As the government and international community mobilise vaccines to fight COVID19, it is equally critical that communities are mobilized to use these vaccines through addressing their fears and vaccine hesitancy”, said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan. “We are in the midst of two pandemics now: the COVID19 pandemic and the infordemic from misinformation, conspiracies and inaccuracies around the virus itself. A dialogue with communities is ethical and will build the trust on vaccination.”

The community dialogues are led by the immunization experts of the Ministry of Health and aimed at consultations with communities on COVID-19 vaccines, addressing the concerns and burning questions of communities on COVID-19 vaccination. 

“The pandemic and vaccination concern every citizen of the country Therefore, it is important to involve all segments of the population in the decision-making process to ensure their inclusiveness”, said Bobur Bekmurodov, the Chair of the Nationwide Movement “Yuksalish”.

While Uzbekistan, like the whole world, grapples with the third wave of the pandemic there is the challenge of myths and misinformation around COVID-19 vaccination. 

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