An article in The Guardian recently caught my attention. It had comments from doctors and nurses in the UK saying that most of the patients admitted to the ICUs with Covid or Covid related issues were those who were unvaccinated. They lamented that anti vaccine protesters held out on supposedly religious or pseudo-scientific grounds for long and then frequently the virus caught up with them, and because symptoms are often more severe in the unvaccinated, they landed in the ICU, increasing the workload of the health care staff.
The article reminded me of a young lady who stayed with us at our home briefly a few weeks ago. Smart articulate and educated, and also deeply religious, she had not taken the covid vaccination. On my enquiry, she replied that she believed herself to be immune from the Novel Corona virus and that God would keep watch over her and keep her safe. This is although not too long ago, her father, an equally devout man had been sick with Covid. My advice to the young lady was along the lines I have given on other occasions and to other people.
The Covid vaccine has undoubtedly been produced in a hurry and the years of trials and research had no doubt been condensed into months. However even so, some basic precautions had been taken by the scientific community and millions since then have placed their faith in the vaccine. The data available so far indicates that breakthrough infections among those who have completed the full schedule of vaccination are rare, and hospitalisations and deaths are rarer still. To me it is debatable if the right to faith and belief is absolute when it infringes on the rights of others. In the name of God’s protection, can one deny themselves of whatever benefits the vaccine has to offer and possibly infect others? After all, no one lives on an island. Since the government has not made vaccination compulsory in India; whether for Covid or anything else, the matter can be debated ad nauseam. However, I hold that faith in God is the reason cited by someone, they should be prepared to carry forward their faith all the way and not run to hospital expecting treatment from already overworked and vulnerable health care staff, if and when things get out of hand.
However, why do people deny themselves vaccinations? My guest used religious grounds as do many others. Many others question the science of it. According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, the resistance level ranges from around 10-20% of people in the UK to around 50% in Japan and 60% in France. Over social media, many online commentators claim that the vaccine hesitant are simply ignorant or selfish. While it is tempting to assume that anyone who refuses a vaccine is indeed that and more, the fears of most vaccine hesitant people should not be confused with the bizarre theories of staunch anti-vaxxers. Apart from religious and cultural reasons or health conditions that justify not receiving the vaccine, the choice to refuse vaccination has been attributed to a range of other factors.
Historically, doubts about the efficacy of vaccines are not new. The same dilemma was confronted by the British when they rolled out vaccines for plague and cholera over 120 years ago. Fears about religious contamination due to use of taboo meats like cow and pig during the culture of prophylactic vaccines drove large sections of the population away from the vaccines. Small-pox vaccinations also faced protests. In the 1990s, vaccines for Hepatitis B were falsely associated with multiple sclerosis in France despite evidence showing otherwise. The MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine which was falsely linked to causing autism in children. Much more recently, some years ago when India was on the cusp of eradicating Polio from its borders, the efforts prolonged as a particular community was persistently resistant to accepting the Oral Polio Vaccine, although by this time, Polio eradication had become a mass movement endorsed by celebrities and commoners.
With Covid vaccines too, the main challenge faced globally is the free flow of mis/disinformation and conspiracy theories about the virus’s cause, origin, and prevention remedies. Scientists, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies around the world are developing coronavirus vaccines. After months of their hard work, many countries have come up with more than a dozen vaccines that have been authorised globally. But the global community continues to face vaccine hesitancy and “fake news” related to vaccination. WHO has listed vaccine hesitancy in the top 10 threats to global health in 2019.
In India too, hesitancy is largely fuelled by misinformation and mistrust, particularly in rural areas where two-thirds of the country’s nearly 1.4 billion population. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and coverage differ across religious groups, according to a survey conducted by the newspaper Mint. Two-thirds (66.7 percent) of Hindus who were part of the survey had received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19. But, among Muslims (47.9 percent) and Christians, only about a half took the vaccine. Religious minorities also reported being more worried about the safety and side-effects of vaccines.
Health workers face stiff resistance from people who believe that vaccines cause impotence, serious side effects and could even kill. Some simply say they do not need the shots because they’re immune to the coronavirus. Rumours about jabs disrupting the menstruation cycle and reducing fertility have also contributed to fear. Quashing such rumours and conspiracy theories is tough. Awareness campaigns can dispel ignorance and provide facts but we lack the weaponry to tackle blind belief bordering on superstition. Even so, governments have mounted aggressive awareness campaigns through posters and Radio/TV announcements to allay some of the anxiety and confusion. There have been reports of charitable organisations and taxi operators giving free rides to vaccination centres, especially from remote villages. Volunteers are conducting door-to-door surveys and even small rallies to encourage people to get the jab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders have routinely spoken about the need to shun vaccine hesitancy, but clearly more needs to be done.
