Vadodara: With rumours against the Measles Rubella (MR) vaccine drive widely circulating amongst the minority community in the city and surrounding areas, opinion makers from the community have started a major drive to ensure that the children are vaccinated. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is looking to vaccinate around 4.25lakh children in the city during the drive.
The vaccination drive is scheduled to begin on Monday and an extensive awareness drive has been taken up by the civic body at schools. But while the VMC was preparing for the drive, rumours started circulating in some minority pockets that the vaccine had side effects. It was said that it could lead to impotency.
Concerned parents started calling up doctors to get clarity. “The hoax was also being circulated on WhatsApp. A news clipping of a prominent news channel was edited in such a way that it showed that the vaccine had side effects. If one sees the complete video, it actually dispels rumours,” said Dr Shahid Mirza, a paediatrician.
Dr Mirza and other doctors of the Baroda Muslim Doctors Association (BMDA) have taken up an aggressive campaign on the social media and otherwise in the community. “To ensure that whatever we are saying is taken seriously, we issued a message on the letterhead of BMDA,” Mirza said.
Another doctor from the community Dr Mohammed Hussain said that there had been confusion and complications during a VMC drive to give deworming tablets to school children at a school. “To avoid such a situation again, we are working together,” he said.
Apart from BMDA, clerics from Vadodara and surrounding areas have also joined the initiative. They have given video messages that are being circulated amongst the members of the community for awareness.
“Staff of the VMC was not getting cooperation in minority areas for the vaccination drive due to the rumours. People were coming up with several questions. In wake of the situation, we decided to step in and work with the officials,” said activist Zuber Gopalani.
Gopalani added that the Jamia Millia Islamia university, Darul-Uloom Waqf Deoband and other institutes had also made appeals to the minority community for the vaccination.
A delegation of influential persons, clerics and doctors from the community also met VMC officials and discussed the issue. “We are getting good cooperation from the community leaders and hope that the drive will be successful,” said VMC’s medical officer (health) Dr Mukesh Vaidya.
