I
am writing this while the potential danger of the third wave of COVID-19 is
looming over our heads with the news of the OMICRON variant. We all felt the impact of
this pandemic at a very personal level during the second wave of COVID-19 in
India. I don’t want to recall the deadly pictures of that time as it refreshes
the painful memories of the loss of our loved ones and shared grief.
During
the second wave, much blame was put on the government policies that resulted in
the low level of vaccination of adults especially in the age group of 18-45 years.
However, soon afterward much attention and effort were diverted to ensure the
wide coverage of the population belonging to this age group. Still, a large number
of people are not vaccinated in India even though it is free of cost.
We all know someone or another person
who does not wish to take the jab. What are possible reasons for hesitation of people to go for vaccination even when it is available free of cost?
Herein
I am going to share the three cases of persons (X, Y, Z) who do not wish to get
themselves vaccinated and the reasons they attribute to it.
The
first one, X, is a research scholar at a Central University in Delhi. He is
approximately 30 years old and belongs to a middle-class family. He stays in a university
hostel and has his family living in Bihar. He shared with me that he does not want to
take the jab because he was never vaccinated against any disease since his
childhood. He was unsure how his body and immune system would respond to the COVID
vaccine. He told me that he would not require to take the jab if most of the
people were vaccinated, (pun intended).
The second one, Y, is a sexagenarian who works as a sweeper in my locality in Delhi. She confided in me that she was not going to take the vaccine even if the government makes it mandatory. As per her, she has already seen her lifetime and if it is time for her to die, she will happily accept it as her fate or the god’s calling. She believes that it is the conspiracy of the government and big companies to gain profit from the situation and eliminate the poor. She shared that many poor people lost their lives and their family members were not even given the chance to visit in the hospital and perform their last rites. She believed that it was a big organ trafficking business run by the hospitals. As no one cares for the lives of poor in this country.
The third case, Z, is my friend's father and works in a PSU in Rajasthan. He does not want to take the vaccine shot as he believes it is ineffective and one may die even after taking the shot. He thinks that there is a government conspiracy, He does not support the central government and Prime Minister. So, to mark his resistance, he will not take the jab. Moreover, his wife recovered from COVID during the second wave and he believes that all their family members have acquired immunity against the COVID virus now.
Safety
concerns, lack of trust, belief in conspiracy theories, and political issues
are some of the reasons that contribute to the vaccine hesitancy in India. These
are real-life cases that I came across. And I am sure you might also be knowing
such persons who hesitate to take the vaccine shot. Have you taken the jab, if
not WHY?
