Rethink public health messages for Covid-19 vaccination campaign
A TODAY reader says the Government’s public health messages on vaccination may give people the impression that they would not contract Covid-19 after being inoculated.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his May Day rally speech last Saturday (May 1), warned Singaporeans not to let their guard down against Covid-19.
It is indeed a timely reminder, even though many residents — especially elderly people — have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see seniors wearing masks at their chins.
We now know that people can be infected even after receiving the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
It is, however, likely that they would show no or very mild symptoms, making detection even harder.
It is perhaps timely for the Government to review its public health messages when it comes to vaccination.
A recent government print advertisement, for instance, contained messages such as "I got my shot for my family", "I don't play play when it comes to my family's safety” and “let's be steady and get vaccinated against Covid-19”.
Such messages may give people the impression that they will not contract the virus, and hence infect others, after vaccination.
Further, they may believe that their families and others around them will be safe even if they fail to wear their masks properly.
Vaccination is beneficial. As medical experts have pointed out, those who have received Covid-19 vaccines around the world have shown greatly reduced risks of hospitalisation and death.
Hence, vaccination could be better positioned as the second line of defence against Covid-19, with mask-wearing and handwashing here to stay as the first line of defence.
Put another way, Singaporeans should wear their masks properly to protect themselves, and by extension their families, against Covid-19. Vaccination guards against serious illness or death, should the first line of defence be compromised.
In other words, "I mask up for my family and I vaccinate for my life".
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