Fear, myths cloud citizens’ minds ahead of Covid jab in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Fighting a combination of misinformation and myths clouding the minds of the public ahead of the Covid vaccination drive is becoming a major challenge for civic health authorities.
Myths ranging from side effects or adverse effects of the vaccine to talk that people who are vaccinated need to be put under electronic surveillance for between 30 minutes and 28 days and religious beliefs that fat from certain animals are used for the vaccine, is proving to be major hindrance.
In municipal health surveys, citizens from areas like Sarkhej, Maktampura, Behrampura, Danilimda, Rakhial and Gomtipur are refusing to register for the vaccine, thanks to a flood of false messages circulated on social media.
Gyasuddin Shaikh, the MLA from Dariapur, says, “Fear of the vaccine is one reason. Then there are false reports being circulated which claim that the vaccination drive may harm a particular community. There are reports of use of fat from certain animals. This is being circulated on WhatsApp and hence people are against registering. Once the ingredients of the vaccine are made public, more and more people will come forward.”
Mirza Haji Asarbeg, a former municipal councillor from Maktampura, said, “People in my area are afraid and its true. There is distrust and there are misinformed people who spread messages on side effects. Messages that appear in the form of news reports with side effects being reported during trial stage are being shared. We have requested people to only rely on trustworthy news sources. In several societies people were not allowed to give their data to health authorities,” says Haji. He is worried that if the misinformation is not fought several people including children and the elderly and those with comorbidities will be left out.
Iqbal Shaikh, also a former municipal councillor, said, “Said the corporation asking for data like the PAN details, voter IDs or even driving licences has created fear of the National Register of Citizens and that this data would be used for it and they would be chased later.”