VACCINATION MUDDLE!
Are you able to make out something out of this scramble?
Vaccination drive is in full force in India. We have successfully stepped towards the maturity stage of the drive as the majority of the population has been vaccinated either fully or partially which in itself is an applause for the country like India, having second highest population in the world. With the commencement of drive for teenagers, talks of taking booster doses are taking rounds. So, can it be indubitably concluded that we have transcended the elephant difficulties lying in the way ahead with regards to vaccination?
I think the answer lies somewhere in the shades of grey. According to me, some of the major obstacles are still standing in our way to derail our efforts, the most pertinent being the prevalent bewilderment with respect to vaccination. There persists a lot of confusion among people due to heavy flow of information owing to the new developments taking place in variants, vaccines, rules & regulations, etc., every single day which is adding to the woes of people in making wiser decisions and is ultimately contributing towards impeding the effectiveness of the drive. Not only this, the information asymmetry and scuttlebutt has given an altogether different direction to it. Starting from the taboo of getting vaccinated to dwindling confidence of people upon the efficacy of vaccines, a host of factors can be held accountable.
Let’s delve into details!
First and foremost obstacle is the grudge of the people to get vaccinated. I know it might seem anomalous to many, but still there are a lot many people who aren’t up for vaccines yet owing to their health concerns. I think that’s the impetus that why most of the people have abandoned taking the second dose which in itself is an invitation to disaster as such people also tend to influence others, knowingly or unknowingly, with their unfounded ideology.
Second, there is a haywire spread of wrong and incomplete information. Already, there exists a vast pool of information to be consumed by people, because Corona never refrains from making headlines each day, and above that, hoax information which is proliferating like that of fire (probably faster than the infection rate) makes it difficult for the people to correctly interpret the information. The common man often fall prey to such fallacious attempts of rumor spreaders, which end up creating panic and distress among masses.
In addition to this, it’s quite unfortunate to see that even during the time of national health emergency, some people are concerned only about satisfying their own lust by spreading fake information, hoarding vaccines, injecting water shots, charging higher prices, etc.
In order to tackle these challenges, awareness is the key. Awareness campaigns about the importance & benefits of vaccines and responsibility of one towards one’s society should be spread. Counselling sessions should be conducted for those needful of help and support. Although such efforts have been undertaken by various government and non-governmental bodies, but the impact is something which needs to be center staged. People also need to be more careful by ensuring that they are referring to verified and credible information only. Un-verified sources disseminating wrong information should be promptly identified and appropriate action must be taken against them. Lastly, but the most crucial; confidence of the people on the vaccines must be revived in order to stimulate them to do the needful.
We need to understand that it’s high time now that we must address these challenges as soon as possible because Damocles’ sword is still hanging over humanity.
Thoughts?
