Rumours derail vaccination drive in rural areas of Bihar

PATNA: Despite the government’s efforts to create awareness about the importance of vaccination in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, lots of myths and misunderstandings circulated on social media have badly hit the inoculation drive in rural areas of Bihar.
People hesitate from taking vaccine and also attack the medical officers and vaccination vans at some places .They fear that taking vaccine jab may cause loss of sexual virility (manhood), instant death, disability, life-threatening reactions and other life-time illnesses.
Dr Arvind Kumar, civil surgeon of Arwal district, on Friday said several incidents of scuffle between villagers and the medical staff involved in the inoculation drive were reported in the last few weeks. “Every time the villagers see the vaccination van or camp, they chase the medical staff away. These people think that on taking the vaccine shot they would become impotent or die. They get misled by the social media posts. We have the target to vaccinate 1,700 persons per day in rural areas. However, we manage less than 30%,” Dr Arvind said, adding that to allay rumours, they are soon going to start the awareness drive in rural areas.
Citing the recent incidents of attack on medical staff, Bhagalpur civil surgeon Dr Umesh Kumar said the vaccination drive in rural areas has hit the dead-end. “On Friday, the vaccination van went to Barari village, where people came out of their homes with sticks. To save their lives, the medical staff returned without vaccinating even a single person. Such incidents were often reported from rural areas. Earlier, the villagers attacked the mobile van in Rangra block. We have reported the matter to the health department,” he told this newspaper.
“Minor scuffle between medical personnel and the villagers often breaks out as people are not even ready to listen. Many of them say they have heard that those who take the vaccine die. To allay the fear, we roped in anganwadi and ASHA workers and local representatives to motivate people for the vaccination. However, in urban areas, we have not seen any such hesitancy,” said Dr Ajay Kumar Singh, civil surgeon of Khagaria.
Bettiah civil surgeon Dr Arun Kumar Sinha said villagers are not only hesitant about the vaccine, but they straight-forward refuse to take it, particularly for no reason. “I, along with the DM, visited Loriya block where there was so much rumour against the vaccine. Some villagers told us that they heard if they take the vaccine, they would suffer lifelong illnesses. We are trying to disseminate the right information to them,” he said.
Dr Maheshwar Prasad Gupta, civil surgeon of Araria, said local leaders and religious gurus were engaged to allay the fears associated with the vaccine as there was much hesitancy among the rural population.
Alok Ram (52) of Chakiya village in Saran district said people were dying after taking the vaccine shots, which scared the villagers. “I am illiterate but not a fool. I have seen some people who took the first shot of vaccine and fell ill. A few of them even died. My kids are small. How can I risk my life,” he said.
Raju Khan (49) from Sareyan block in Gopalganj said, “After witnessing so many deaths, I am scared of taking the vaccine. The mobile van had come today, but we refused to open our gates. Only some stupid people in the village have taken the vaccine even though we had told them about deaths and side-effects.”
Vikash Mahto, who had taken the first dose about 45 days ago, refused to take the second shot. “I was really naive to take the vaccine after the medical staff in Basantpur block (Siwan district) told us that it will protect from the infection. Now, I feel cheated,” he said.