Today, hesitation regarding COVID-19 vaccination is a significant barrier to achieving rapid vaccine coverage in many parts of India. Massive shortage in availability of vaccines and issues regarding its distribution are, of course, major factors holding us back in many states, but reluctance towards the vaccine also makes the task of ensuring immunity among the majority of our population difficult. But moving beyond ‘victim-blaming’, we need to dig deeper and understand the underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy so that it can be minimized. Addressing this issue is as much an essential step as is stepping up steady vaccine supply and delivery.
We regularly read stories about people, particularly in rural areas, who are reluctant to approach vaccination centres, even actively avoiding vaccination staff visiting their homes. Before rushing to dismiss them as being ‘unscientific’, we need to understand that scientific attitudes among the public are shaped in a social context. We need to reflect on how rational thinking in India has been undermined in various forms, especially in recent years.
This story is from the July 2021 edition of Reader's Digest India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2021 edition of Reader's Digest India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR RIPLEY
The creator of Believe It or Not had an insatiable curiosity about strange and astonishing facts
HE OPENED UP THE ARC TIC
\"You don't just sit and wait for adventure to come,\" famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen liked to explain.\"You go out and make it happen!\"
Discovering Babasaheb
This Dalit history month—which also marks the 134\" birth anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, we recount four momentous incidents from his life
Lion in the Living Room
Five decades after two young men brought a playful cub into their London home, the tale has touched a whole new generation
The Many Roles of SUNIL DUTT
Through many personal tragedies, this favourite matinee idol finds strength and solace in helping others
AGATHA CHRISTIE MURDER BY THE BOOK
More widely read than any other English writer, she baffled the world with masterly tales of murder and remained something of a mystery herself
THE DAY WE MADE Flying History
Ona sunny September day in 1913, the author set three world records ina homemade flying machine
THE COMMANDO WITH THE TATTOO
Ganesh Dhangde was just six years old when he got lost. Twenty years later, his mother had a visitor
MARILYN: HER MAGIC LINGERS ON
The real Marilyn Monroe was nobody you'd look at twice—unless she wanted you to
I Think, Therefore, I Spam...
...has become the way forward for too many e-mail pests. Here's how I deal with them every single day