5000 micro-influencers in Portugal build confidence in COVID-19 vaccination

25 August 2022

The Portuguese Directorate-General of Health recruited and trained 5000 micro-influencers to provide trusted sources of information for the communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative approach helped the country achieve some of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.

The influential community members became “listening posts” for community concerns about COVID-19 measures and vaccination. They spread reliable information and fed back any doubts or confusion to central health authorities. These micro-influencers are embedded across society, meaning even hard-to-reach communities have a trusted person with whom to discuss their questions or concerns.

This human level of COVID-19 intervention has been trailblazing in encouraging people to adopt public health measures and to get vaccinated. We spoke to four micro-influencers across Portugal about their work.

 

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Comandante Simão Velez is a local firefighter in Ponte de Sôr.

“I attended the vaccination centre in my city daily where I was approached regularly by people who had doubts and wanted clarification before deciding whether to take the vaccine. One day, a mother of two arrived and wanted talk to the doctor at the Vaccination Centre. She decided that her children wouldn’t be vaccinated and left. I went after her and after a half hour chat, the decision was reversed. Perhaps it was because I mentioned my 9 year old daughter had already got vaccinated, but her children were vaccinated a few days later!

How could I not help? Science demonstrated the importance of vaccination to save lives early on. There has been a very significant reduction in hospital admissions and deaths.

The best thing about being a micro-influencer is knowing that through my intervention, I could have helped to save someone.”

What three words would Comandante Velez use to describe his work as a micro-influencer?

Recognition, trust, availability.

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Célia da Silva Carneiro is a dentist in Porto.

“Every day I’m in touch with many patients and I am also socially active in my county. I deal with lots of people who approach me with various questions, sharing their doubts and fears. I saw a great window of opportunity in contributing as a health professional - I felt I could help demystify worries in oral and general health about COVID-19, in particular regarding vaccination. It is important that patients are enlightened with correct information so that they can make conscious and informed decisions. I feel it is my duty to help promote health.”

What three words would Ms da Silva Carneiro use to describe her work as a micro-influencer?

Cooperation, gift, care.

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Major Ricardo Luís Rodrigues Guimarães da Silva is Head of Crime Prevention and Community Policing at the National Republican Guard, based in Lisbon.

“The will to help comes from the will to contribute to the community. This is a lifelong oath in my profession. Helping people during the pandemic and in the fight against COVID-19, namely in the whole vaccination process, requires the involvement of the whole community for the greater good.

On a daily basis, it’s my responsibility to motivate, nurture and encourage the 300 officers under my care, to support vaccination. This is especially important for the most vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.

High vaccination rates translate into a protected, resilient, prepared community. It lowers COVID-19 risk to the greatest extent that medicine allows, which is an unprecedented evolution in our history.”

What three words would Major Guimarães da Silva use to describe his work as a micro-influencer?

Involve, share, act.

 

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Luís Miguel de Oliveira Lourenço is a community pharmacist in Sintra.

“As a healthcare professional, I have a commitment to promote the best possible healthcare service to everyone.

Being a community pharmacist, I find that it’s quite simple to work all day as a micro-influencer, adjusting my method according to the person who is in front of me, either when I’m dispensing, or administering medicines, or in other interactions with patients.

The language should always be simple and clear and we should use images to help our audience to memorise the concept we are trying to present. I check our professional society news clippings daily to keep up with the most relevant scientific information related to medicines. If one is an influencer, one has a duty to keep informed. The greatest reward is witnessing the improvement of the quality of life of our citizens when they make decisions based on guidance provided.

It was common to be approached by older people asking if the COVID vaccination was safe, since they had heard that there were a lot of people experiencing side effects after being vaccinated. I explained that the number of reported cases of side effects should be related to the total number of people vaccinated. A good way to explain is, if there is one reported side-effect in 10 million people vaccinated, on average we would only have one reported case in all Portugal. Numbers are good to explain the magnitude of events!

It was very fulfilling to perceive that these patients all got vaccinated with a clearer idea about the science of medicines. The high COVID vaccination rates in Portugal dramatically reduced the number of deaths from infection and has helped our communities begin social interactions again.”

Which three words would Mr Lourenço use to describe his work as a micro-influencer?

Science, trust, guidance.

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