Moa Jamir
The first anniversary of India’s COVID-19 vaccination programme on January 16 passed by without the usual ceremonial event associated with such an occasion in Nagaland. Nationally, the Union Government marked the day with the release of a commemorative postal stamp on the COVID-19 vaccine by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.
Notwithstanding the concern over the spread of the omicron variant, one primary contributing factor for the apparent lack of enthusiasm in marking the vaccine milestone could be the outcome of the immunisation process in the State in the first year. Data shared by the States’ Health and Family Welfare Department informed that a total of 13,66,191 COVID-19 doses comprising of 7,74,065 1st doses and 5,92,126 2nd doses were administrated in the State as of January 16, 2022.
With 12,50,645 targeted beneficiaries in the 18 years and above category as well as healthcare workers and frontline workers, the total vaccination figure represented 61.9% 1st dose and 47.3% 2nd dose coverage. In other words, while just over half of the targeted beneficiaries had received at least one dose, less than half of them were fully vaccinated, indicating the formidable task ahead for the concerned authorities.
In comparison, as per an official release, the all-India data on administration of 1st dose and 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccine to eligible population was around 93% and 69.8% respectively by January 16. Extrapolation of the MoHFW’s vaccination data on January 17, 2022, with the total projected population (as of October 1, 2020) by the ministry also informed the lowest rate of vaccination among the North-East State was Nagaland with at just 35.66%. Meghalaya was next with 35.66%, followed by Manipur (42.72%). In other states, it ranged from 54.05% in Arunachal Pradesh to 79.21% in Sikkim.
If one look at the data objectively, however, the State Government is not entirely at fault for the relatively muted response to the vaccination drive in Nagaland. One of the primary reasons is the stubborn vaccine hesitancy in the State, which appears to be a mixture of religious, ideological, cultural as well as fear among many, over the vaccine itself or any type of injection. These concerns are also fanned by the spread of ‘infodemic’ on various social media platforms, particularly on WhatsApp, which are enthusiastically and widely shared by the ‘anti-vaxxers.’
Inferences drawn from the weekly COVID-19 bulletin by the State’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) indicated that such concerns are affecting the periphery most, though the impact is also seen at the ‘core.’ For instance, the latest IDSP’s bulletin figure on January 15 for 18 and above beneficiaries informed that while Dimapur’s performance has been outstanding so far with both 1st and 2nd dose surpassing 100%, the 1st dose figure was below 50% in 7 districts out of 11 districts under consideration. Apart from Kohima (70%), the other districts crossing the halfway mark - Mokokchung and Longleng had just 59% and 52% respectively.
With electoral roll as the basis for estimation, the IDSP noted that coverage of many districts are affected by the migration of students and citizens from rural to urban settlements like Dimapur and Kohima, but this alone cannot be used to explain the low figure in other districts. The slow uptake of the Covaxin inoculation for 15-18 years which started from January 3 implies that vaccine hesitancy influenced by the aforementioned concerns continues to affect the vaccination drive. The perceptible spurt of anti-vaccine messages, videos, and other ‘information’ in the run-up and thereafter affirm such assertion.
Going forward, the task is formidable; those at the helms of affairs must revamp its effort to combat the ‘infodemic’ as a primary focus, while awareness and other measures continue concurrently. Beyond listening to concerns and questions, it must involve enhancing community engagement and building an adroit mechanism for combating misinformation decisively in real-time as well as giving fact-based alternatives.
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