Page 5 - Rotary Matters - October 2021

Rotarians can be influencers

You don’t have to be Tik Tok dancer or put your pictures on Instagram to be an influencer. You don’t even
need to be a social media user at all.

As Rotarians, our leadership and ‘good works’ is respected in our communities. Therefore we too can be
influencers and our considered opinions will be listened to and respected.

COVID-19 gives us all an opportunity to influence. Especially to encourage and reassure those who are
hesitant or procrastinating, to get vaccinated. We want to get to as close to 100% as we possibly can so the
health services can manage the expected cases and new variants, as we stop the lockdowns and open our
state and international borders.

Already we are seeing significant numbers of people in the at risk groups still well below the average in
vaccination rates. South Australia and the Northern Territory, which have been relatively lockdown free,
are also showing slower jab take up rates. At mid- September SA and NT recorded 63% first doses of 16
and over as against NSW 82% and Vic 73%.

The local government areas within D 9510 well below the average include Adelaide Plains, Broken Hill,
Mildura, the Outback, Peterborough, Playford, Renmark and Paringa, Salisbury and Wentworth. Also there
are no records for Alice Springs.

These are all priority areas of the community where Rotarians can step in and help.
Rotarians, through the eradicate polio program, have been successful vaccination supporters for 35 years.
We all know how difficult this campaign has been. We have seen children in India having to be vaccinated
multiple times because of perpetual diarrhoea, we have seen Inmans in Nigeria convince their believers
that End Polio was designed by the West to create infertility and we have seen terrorist groups in Pakistan
kill polio workers. We have even negotiated with the Taliban to combine with COVID vaccination programs
so we can continue to eradicate polio.

As Rotarians we can evaluate information and sort the truth from the conspiracies and lies.

As Rotarians we can measure risk. We know that the risk of blood clots with Astra Zeneca is 66 in 10M but
the risk of blood clots with COVID-19 is 12614 in 10M - nearly 200 times more.

World Polio Day is on 24 October. Why not organise a club project or forum to focus on a section of your
community that seems reluctant to get the jab and at the same time promote End Polio?

You and your club can be an influencer for Rotary.

Euan Miller
Rotary Foundation Cadre

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