A video showing an old woman hiding behind a drum fearing Covid-19 vaccination has gone viral on social media, showing how real vaccine hesitancy is in the rural areas of the country. This viral video was shot at Etawah's Chandanpur village. Vaccine hesitancy is a serious issue, the village head said to news agency ANI. The village has a population of around 1,100 people but only 40-45 people have been inoculated, the village head said.
A vaccination awareness team led by Etawah Sadar MLA Sarita Bhadauria visited the house of the old woman who, as the video suggested, hid behind a drum as soon as she got a wind of the team coming. Seeing the camera, she came out from her hiding but reiterated that she won't come out and meet anyone. Then she came out after being told that she won't be vaccinated now, she would only have to meet the visitors. "I am a doctor. Listen to me..just come outside,' a woman present there said.
The woman was identified as Har Devi.
{{/usCountry}}The woman was identified as Har Devi.
{{/usCountry}}"People are mostly uneducated here in villages. She was an old woman. We are campaigning in the village to encourage more and more people to get vaccinated. When we went to her place, she was hiding behind the door. As we started to speak to her, she went inside and hid somewhere. We understood that she was scared. She was even saying that she will get a fever after vaccination. But after we explained to her, she agreed to vaccination," MLA Bhadauria said.
As cities are reporting a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, the situation is not the same in villages. Though rural and peri-urban areas have been majorly affected for the first time by the pandemic in the second wave, villages are reporting a high percentage of vaccine hesitancy.