Digiredio has played a pivotal role in Kenya’s fight against COVID-19 from the moment the pandemic broke out internationally and landed locally. In the beginning, our messaging focused on providing messages of hope while reiterating the importance of adhering to the Ministry of Health’s preventive guidelines. When vaccines became available, public apprehension regarding the safety and efficacy were key issues, whilst there was confusion about who was eligible for the vaccines, with some of the priority cohorts selected for vaccination unsure on why they should get the vaccines. The prevalence of rumours, myths and misconceptions about COVID-19 were also high at this point, leading to mistrust by the public.

The “Pata Chanjo ya Tumaini na Ukae Chonjo” (Get the vaccine of hope and remain alert) campaign started in May 2021 and ran till October 2021. The campaign was done on behalf of the government with support from UNICEF Kenya and ran nationally on all community radio stations on the digiredio platform. The overall goal of the campaign was to alleviate fears and mistrust of vaccination and promote confidence and acceptance of vaccination leading to demand and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among eligible populations. The key insight for the campaign was that the availability of vaccines for COVID-19 was a game changer for the country due to the vaccines’ ability to protect from severe illness, hospitalisation, or death. This really was the beginning of the end of the country’s long and hard fight with COVID-19.