The COVID-19 inoculation is “just like any other vaccine” a UN Women staff member is telling the Syrian refugee women she cares for in camps in Jordan, as she tries to combat misinformation and false rumours, and avoid spikes in infection.
Hadeel Al-Zoubi is a Senior Camp Assistant working in two camps (Za’atari and Azraq) that accommodate Syrians who have fled their war-torn country. She told UN News how she has fought COVID-19 misinformation which helped her to overcome her own and others’ vaccine hesitancy.
“When the coronavirus first hit, everyone feared this unknown pandemic. We did not know what to expect, especially during the lockdown period when many people started working remotely. As a frontline worker in the refugee camps, I supported more than 300 vulnerable women on a weekly basis.
I could see the burden of confinement measures progressively increasing for them, particularly for the mothers. I was constantly worried that I might be the one to transmit the virus to the women or to get infected myself.
Serving as an example
It was only in 2021 that I felt a sense of relief, when the Government announced that vaccines would be available. However, at the beginning I was hesitant to take the vaccine.