Villagers in India Flee Homes, Jump Into River to Avoid COVID Vaccination
By Natalie Colarossi On 5/25/21 at 10:18 AM EDT
As medical officials aim to quickly administer COVID-19 vaccines across India, residents of one village were seen fleeing their homes and jumping into a nearby river to avoid what they believed was a "poisonous injection."
Around 200 people in Sisoda village in Barabanki, a rural area in India's Uttar Pradesh state, fled their homes when a team of health officials arrived to launch a vaccination campaign on Saturday.
"We reached the village with a medical team to vaccinate villagers. However, as soon as they saw us approaching, many of them ran away. When we tried to stop them, they jumped in the river. We tried to sensitize them about the importance of the vaccine but they did not relent," sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rajiv Shukla said, according to the Times of India.
Several individuals ran from medics and jumped into the Saryu River as misinformation spread across the village that the COVID-19 vaccine was poisonous, or could lead to death, impotence or viral infection, the India Timesreported.
One local farmer, Shishupal, told news outlets that he heard of people dying after receiving the coronavirus vaccine and said he did not trust the government.
"I have got this information from several of my friends who work in big cities. I am convinced as the local officials have not answered my queries. My own uncle, who worked in Delhi, died a month after having both vaccine shots. What more proof do I need," he said, according to the India Times.
"Is there a guarantee that we will not get infected after the vaccine? There are many in the adjoining village who rushed to take the vaccine and then got infected," he added.
In total, only 14 people across the village with a population of roughly 1,500 agreed to be inoculated on Saturday.
Vaccine hesitancy has become a widespread issue in some rural villages across India. Here, Indian villagers walk cattle through a market during permitted morning opening hours amid Rajasthan's ongoing coronavirus lockdown on May 17, 2021 in Parli, Tonk District, Rajasthan, India. Rebecca Conway/Getty Images
Vaccine hesitancy in India's rural villages has been a widespread issue for several months. A nationwide survey taken in December found that only 44 percent of villagers said they were willing to get the jab, National Geographicreported.
Rumors and misinformation about the vaccine's safety have become one of the biggest hurdles for health officials.
Since February, the country has been struggling with a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections that has left hospitals overwhelmed and without adequate oxygen supplies. As COVID-19 deaths pile up, crematoriums have run out of wood to build funeral pyres and some cities have been forced to turn parks, parking lots and other public spaces into makeshift cremation sites.
According to a recent research report, nearly half of coronavirus infections in India – 48.5 percent – are now being reported from the rural areas.
Health officials have warned that those in rural villages are at increased risk of infection, as many areas lack adequate health services or facilities to properly treat individuals.
"They don't have the facilities to cope. They don't have hospitals, doctors, nurses. They definitely don't have oxygen supplies. In some places there are only traditional healers and sometimes there are health workers but they have no facilities," Dr. P Carel Joseph, director of health for the humanitarian organization World Vision India, said earlier this month.
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed farmers during a virtual conference in an attempt to warn villagers that the virus is quickly spreading to rural areas.
"The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," Modi told farmers, according to Reuters. "I want to once again warn all...those who live in villages about corona[virus]."
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 26,948,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in India since the pandemic first began, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. So far, 307,231 people had died, though both numbers are thought to be under counted.
Newsweek, in partnership with NewsGuard, is dedicated to providing accurate and verifiable vaccine and health information. With NewsGuard's HealthGuard browser extension, users can verify if a website is a trustworthy source of health information. Visit the Newsweek VaxFacts website to learn more and to download the HealthGuard browser extension.
By Natalie Colarossi On 5/25/21 at 10:18 AM EDT
As medical officials aim to quickly administer COVID-19 vaccines across India, residents of one village were seen fleeing their homes and jumping into a nearby river to avoid what they believed was a "poisonous injection."
Around 200 people in Sisoda village in Barabanki, a rural area in India's Uttar Pradesh state, fled their homes when a team of health officials arrived to launch a vaccination campaign on Saturday.
"We reached the village with a medical team to vaccinate villagers. However, as soon as they saw us approaching, many of them ran away. When we tried to stop them, they jumped in the river. We tried to sensitize them about the importance of the vaccine but they did not relent," sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rajiv Shukla said, according to the Times of India.
Several individuals ran from medics and jumped into the Saryu River as misinformation spread across the village that the COVID-19 vaccine was poisonous, or could lead to death, impotence or viral infection, the India Timesreported.
One local farmer, Shishupal, told news outlets that he heard of people dying after receiving the coronavirus vaccine and said he did not trust the government.
"I have got this information from several of my friends who work in big cities. I am convinced as the local officials have not answered my queries. My own uncle, who worked in Delhi, died a month after having both vaccine shots. What more proof do I need," he said, according to the India Times.
"Is there a guarantee that we will not get infected after the vaccine? There are many in the adjoining village who rushed to take the vaccine and then got infected," he added.
In total, only 14 people across the village with a population of roughly 1,500 agreed to be inoculated on Saturday.
Vaccine hesitancy has become a widespread issue in some rural villages across India. Here, Indian villagers walk cattle through a market during permitted morning opening hours amid Rajasthan's ongoing coronavirus lockdown on May 17, 2021 in Parli, Tonk District, Rajasthan, India. Rebecca Conway/Getty Images
Vaccine hesitancy in India's rural villages has been a widespread issue for several months. A nationwide survey taken in December found that only 44 percent of villagers said they were willing to get the jab, National Geographicreported.
Rumors and misinformation about the vaccine's safety have become one of the biggest hurdles for health officials.
Since February, the country has been struggling with a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections that has left hospitals overwhelmed and without adequate oxygen supplies. As COVID-19 deaths pile up, crematoriums have run out of wood to build funeral pyres and some cities have been forced to turn parks, parking lots and other public spaces into makeshift cremation sites.
According to a recent research report, nearly half of coronavirus infections in India – 48.5 percent – are now being reported from the rural areas.
Health officials have warned that those in rural villages are at increased risk of infection, as many areas lack adequate health services or facilities to properly treat individuals.
"They don't have the facilities to cope. They don't have hospitals, doctors, nurses. They definitely don't have oxygen supplies. In some places there are only traditional healers and sometimes there are health workers but they have no facilities," Dr. P Carel Joseph, director of health for the humanitarian organization World Vision India, said earlier this month.
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed farmers during a virtual conference in an attempt to warn villagers that the virus is quickly spreading to rural areas.
"The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," Modi told farmers, according to Reuters. "I want to once again warn all...those who live in villages about corona[virus]."
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 26,948,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in India since the pandemic first began, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. So far, 307,231 people had died, though both numbers are thought to be under counted.
Newsweek, in partnership with NewsGuard, is dedicated to providing accurate and verifiable vaccine and health information. With NewsGuard's HealthGuard browser extension, users can verify if a website is a trustworthy source of health information. Visit the Newsweek VaxFacts website to learn more and to download the HealthGuard browser extension.
