Nagaland
Imlisanen Jamir
It was disheartening to note that a sizable portion of health care workers in Nagaland — people who know well the dangers to health and well-being — are hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Health Department revealed last week that only 31% of the 21,549 registered health care workers in Nagaland have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first phase. Add to that the mere 5% of the 51,718 registered frontline workers who have been vaccinated in the second phase, and things do not look good.
During a review meeting of the Nagaland State Task Force last Thursday, there was hesitance among health care and frontline workers for fear of side effects. And despite the impressive announcements about India carrying out the largest vaccination drive in the world, hesitancy is strife.
There are plenty of explanations for this—understandable, but not satisfactory. The most frequent explanation for hesitancy is mistrust and misinformation.
Dr Randeep Guleria, the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said “Initially, health care workers were very keen to get the vaccine. But then because of the infodemic, because of things doing the rounds on social media, because of side effects being highlighted more than what they were, it created a lot of anxiety not only among healthcare workers but also with public at large.”
The Health Ministry has maintained that all adverse reactions have been mild, with fleeting symptoms such as nausea and mild fever.
Meanwhile, both vaccine manufacturers—Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech—have released factsheets about their vaccine and advised people with certain health conditions to be cautious while being inoculated.
Other reasons for hesitancy are that many medical front-line workers are young and may feel invincible. Some may simply want to wait, fearful of being in the first wave. Others who have already survived a bout with covid-19 might not want to be at the head of the line.
But even they should not neglect the vaccine. Maximizing the number of people vaccinated is our best chance to minimize spread, especially as new variants of the virus emerge. These workers are everyday heroes. They save lives and serve those who often cannot serve themselves. They willingly go every day to the front lines.
Everyone in health care and frontline workers should get the vaccine as soon as possible, for themselves and for the rest of us. We implore them to reject the misinformation, surmount the distrust and trust in the science.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
