Polio Pulse

Polio Pulse provides social listening insights to support GPEI’s polio interventions on disinformation, crisis communication, and strategic communication. Data is monitored from polio-endemic and outbreak countries and geographies classified by GPEI, covering 12 major languages spoken in these regions. The platform is managed by the UNICEF Digital Community Engagement (DCE) team.

Low Risk

Frustration and false claims circulate as Kenya works to resolve vaccine shortage

Geography
Kenya
Themes
Conspiracy theories
Necessity

Analysis

This week, Kenyans online continued to express frustration and distrust about vaccine shortages. In response to reports that the country secured a three-year financing deal with GAVI, one social media user suggested that polio was “debunked as a hoax.”

Recommendations

Some people believe that polio is not real and that polio vaccines are unnecessary. That is not true. Communicators may explain that polio is a real disease that has existed for centuries. Messaging may emphasize that vaccination is the only way to prevent polio and that many children died and were paralyzed by polio before vaccines were available.