Filenews 17 July 2021 - by Marlena Panagi
By the hundreds, citizens were quick to ask their questions to the experts, from the very first hours of the operation of the OSAC page "Let's Talk About It," on Facebook.
In fact, the doctors and psychologists of the team of specialists who participate voluntarily and for free, in the campaign of organized patients, in two cases, were asked to deal with emergencies by giving their advice, in the first case to a citizen who presented at the time one of the usual but relatively serious side effects of vaccines and in the second case to a person who had a scheduled vaccination appointment the next day, he hesitated and expressed a strong phobia and needed both medical and psychological support, which he received.
The majority of the questions put to the 10-member panel of experts involved in the OSAC campaign, which was adopted and actively promoted by the Ministry of Health, concern specific personal health problems of citizens seeking answers, arguing that they are not vaccinated because they are concerned about a possible deterioration of their condition or are concerned because they have been vaccinated and are afraid , as they argue, the possible side effects of vaccines.
Several of the questions come from couples who plan to procreate and are reluctant to be vaccinated, as they are concerned by what has been circulated online about the effects of vaccination on fertility, while a portion of citizens are looking for evidence to convince themselves of the benefits of vaccination.
With regard to the pandemic in general, some citizens, few in number, despite the fact that 18 months have passed since the occurrence of the crown virus in Cyprus, still have questions about the virus and how it is spread and questions are being asked which relate to the various procedures followed to ensure SafePass, how to reschedule vaccination appointments, the reliability of the tests carried out, etc. These questions are answered by the government agencies through the Ministry of Health, which has made available to the OSAC all its competent officials.
It is worth mentioning that of the hundreds of questions that OSAC has received to date through the page "Let's Talk'', very little has been done by citizens who belong to the groups of 'Deniers' or 'anti-vaccinators', which demonstrates the need for citizens to have a direct discussion with the experts. But even in these cases, many of the citizens seeking answers receive them from scientists and experts.
Aim of the OSAC campaign with the slogan "Let's talk about it... it is simple', is to give citizens the opportunity to have direct contact with experts, to express their fears, concerns and even their objections to all issues relating to the pandemic and especially vaccination.
In the course of the procedure, the questions submitted either 'personally' or publicly through the page are distributed on a daily basis to the ten specialists (doctors of various specialties, psychologists, sociologists, specialists in medicines and vaccines) who give their answers by name, in most cases within 24 hours and in cases where citizens are looking for specific data for which more investigation is needed, replies shall be given within two or three days at the latest.
Visits by members of the expert group to various communities, mainly in the countryside, are already planned as part of the campaign, and some of them are also attended by the Minister of Health himself.
