Uttar Pradesh: Vaccine hesitancy in elderly villagers baffles health officials in Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: Officials of the district health department are finding it difficult to mobilize elderly rural folks to take vaccination against Covid-19 even after engaging ground-level health workers to conduct door-to-door contact drives for promoting vaccination and clearing reservations regarding vaccination.
At Bagi village in Mauaima block, when a three-member team of health workers approached the villagers appealing them to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the villagers asked them to go away.
Several ASHA and aganwadi workers told TOI that many villagers are not ready to listen to them.
"A section of villagers flatly refuse to get vaccinated without citing any valid reason. However, we have been making sincere efforts to play down their reservations and make them see reason."
Ironically, those who are not interested in vaccination often term it as 'jahar ki sui' ( poison needle), said a health worker.
Suman, an aganwadi worker, told TOI: "Villagers, mainly elderly, argue with us regarding vaccination and ask us to leave from their houses. Whenever we urge them to get vaccinated, they threaten us."
"There is a common myth among villagers that 'injection lagne se maut ho jati hai' (injection will lead to death)," said another ASHA worker.
"At a time when urban vaccination centres are witnessing huge rush of people, ground-level health workers are finding it difficult to motivate a section of villagers," said a senior health official pointing out that "youngsters in villages are quite enthusiastic and earnest about getting vaccinated. They show no vaccine hesitancy and also encourage others to get vaccinated. But aged men and women are reluctant towards vaccination."
Officials, however, claimed that 14 sites in urban areas and 21 in rural pockets have registered over 80% vaccination till now.
The number of recipients who got the first dose of vaccine was much higher in villages than those who received the second dose.
As many as 5,25,169 Covid vaccine shots have been administered to beneficiaries in all age groups in the district till May 26.
While 4,21,188 beneficiaries have taken the first dose of vaccine, a total of 1,04,380 recipients have received the second dose as well.
Additional chief medical officer and district immunisation officer (DIO) Dr Teerath Lal told TOI, "Health teams are interacting with people in villages and are encouraging them, so that a maximum number of beneficiaries can be covered in trans-Ganga and trans-Yamuna pockets."
He added, "The department is identifying big market areas to hold special vaccination camps from June 1 with an objective to cover the maximum number of people. Joint teams of health and revenue departments are conducting door-to-door contact drives to promote vaccination."