A health worker interacts with eligible beneficiaries during COVID-19 sensitization-cum-vaccination at Losatephe village, Phek district. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter@NagalandNHM/roselinephom)
Atono Tsükrü Kense
Kohima | February 16
Since the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines in Nagaland on January 14, 2021, reticence about the vaccine remains persistent due to misinformation, rumours, misconceptions, and conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine.
To make matter worse, claimed ‘visions and prophesies’ about the COVID-19 vaccine is making the efforts of the state health department more daunting and challenging. All these conflicting view points between religious beliefs and medical science have created confusions, especially among the ‘gullible’ people.
Earlier, the vaccine was also labelled as ‘mark of the beast’ resulting in vaccine hesitancy, which Church leaders have dismissed as ‘baseless and biblically unacceptable.’ Time and again, medical professionals have assured that the vaccine is safe and effective against Coronavirus.
Recently, a video clip of ‘claimed prophecy’ was proclaimed at a crusade was widely circulated in the social media platforms garnering both positive and negative comments. Roughly translated, the speaker can be heard saying “many are preaching after taking the vaccination but they will not enter into the gates of Heaven... even if they are preaching holding Bible, they will be the first one to go to hell. This is a clear vision by God to me.”
‘We are playing with God’
Condemning the prophecy (not the person) Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) General Secretary while speaking to The Morung Express remarked “we are playing with God and Christianity. It is wrong. I will not judge the spirituality of other people, but we cannot play with God.”
Stating that vaccination has nothing to do with salvation, he said ‘not all prophesies are true and not all are false’ adding that the prophecy has to be verified, questioned and its authenticity should be sought through consultations.
“Innocent people are swayed away and are confused,” he observed, attributing it to lack of discerning power between truth and falsehood.
“It’s very sad that these things are coming up from Church related institutions. We don’t condemn the person, but we condemn the prophecy,” stated Rev Keyho.
Stating that these kinds of prophesies, visions, etc., are not the end but the beginning towards the end times; he reminded the Christians, “we need to pray for discerning spirit/power. We have to guard our faith and stand firm on the word of God.”
Salvation, he reiterated “is based on the work, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and not on anything. We shouldn’t make the work of Christ on the cross meaningless.”
‘Dangerous trends but nothing surprising’
Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) Executive Director, Rev Dr Atsi Dolie vocally dismissed the prophecy as “absolutely insane. I don’t know the right words to say but this is absolutely not from God.”
Asserting that salvation belongs only to God, he stated, “I don’t think the grace that God has given through Christ can be taken away by a vaccine. In no uncertain terms, I would like to condemn the prophecy.”
Attributing falsehood prophesies to lack of in-depth biblical knowledge, Rev Dolie also explained that “people don’t question when somebody claims to have heard something from God because it’s a very subjective experience.”
Describing it as ‘very dangerous trends but nothing surprising’, he advised “the thing is we have to test whether it’s in line with the scripture.”
“We cannot stop people from saying things, even worse things will come, but what we can do on our part is, if we know our Bible well, we can test and measure in the light of scripture,” stated Rev Dolie.
“Any prophecy that is against the Bible is absolutely not from God. The Bible is the word of God, and God will never say anything contradicting to what He had said in his word. Bible is the best book to analyse all of these. Why I am so vocal and firm is that it doesn’t come close to any of the scripture of teaching when we talk about salvation,” he commented.
‘Vaccination is undisputed for any preventive aspects’
Exasperated with the misconceptions ever since COVID vaccinations began, State Immunization Officer (SIO), Dr Ritu Thurr stated “medically speaking vaccination is undisputed for any preventive aspects.”
Reiterating that there are scientific proof that vaccine is the only tool which can prevent or mitigate the COVID infection, he said “it is not only COVID vaccine but routine immunisation for BCG, polio etc that vaccine is the only tool for the prevention of infection, morbidity and mortality.”
Vexed with the negative inputs from many quarters which has been making efforts of the department more challenging right from the beginning, Dr Thurr admitted “vaccination is going down because of these factors. People, especially in rural areas, just believe what is being told to them without any fact findings or proof. We are very superficial jumping right away into believing something without verifying.”
He informed that 86% of COVID related fatalities were among the unvaccinated while the rest had co-morbid conditions.
“If there is any connection between vaccination and salvation, I would be the first one to go to hell as I have been vaccinated,” they all remarked.
