Phase 3 – punishments – will see access denied to many services, as also access to enhancement avenues. Like to certain jobs, and to certain services. Essentially it will make living for the unvaccinated extremely inconvenient. Airlines will insist on vaccination proof. And merchant ships will refuse openings to unvaccinated mariners.

The Biden administration, say the anti-vaxers, has resolved to inoculate 70% of the US adult population “no matter what it takes”. In India, there is no such resolve, or even allegations of coercion. India does not have a tribe or tribes of anti-vaxers though a lot many Indians are believed to be against vaccines.

There are no established numbers given to anti-vaxer Indians. Media have generally stuck to pushing vaccination. But there have been reports of several people involved in anti-vaccine activities. Like for example, Neha Khan, an Aligarh nurse who was dismissed from service because she gave the jab, but not the vaccine!

At least 29 persons who took the Covid-19 jab from her walked off with a smile not knowing that Neha Khan had cheated them with a prick but had not injected the vaccine. The still loaded syringes were found in the dustbin. The doctor-in-charge, who was aware of Neha Khan’s delinquency, chose to overlook.

This wasn’t vaccine hesitancy, but somewhat in the same vein. Vaccine hesitancy is a global phenomenon, and highly worrisome. India is no stranger to vaccine hesitancy. In fact, a lot many Social Media influencers and politicians have contributed to vaccine hesitancy in India.

Some without knowing that they were doing it. Like 16 of 18 AMU professors who died of Covid-19 and post-Covid complications during the month of Ramzan in April-May 2021. None of the 16 had vaccinated themselves despite the fact that AMU was the venue for Covaxin safety trials. The list of no-vaxers included a professor from the Department of Pharmacology!

There are unconfirmed reports that a large section of people of a certain religious denomination throughout India are not taking the Covid-19 vaccine. There’s a disturbing level of distrust in the vaccine, which might affect plans to achieve herd immunity. The fact is, call it selfishness, lots of people are expecting to gain herd immunity banking on enough numbers of “others” getting vaccinated.

The 16 AMU professors were most likely of that bent of mind. They taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) attached to the AMU.

They were presumably “careless” in following Covid-appropriate behaviour and mistrusted vaccines. They also had comorbidities – hypertension and diabetes – and opted to self-medicate. It’s also reported that they didn’t want to get tested for Covid-19.

The AMU was where safety trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin were conducted on over 1000 volunteers. But, apparently, AMU staffs were “apprehensive” and “scared”, and believed the vaccine could even cause death. Most of them did not believe the efficacy claims of the vaccine manufacturer. All said, this was ‘vaccine hesitancy’.

That being said, vaccine hesitancy and distrust in vaccines stretches beyond AMU. Millions of Indians, especially those with comorbidities, believe the Covid-19 vaccine will kill them. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who has a distinct dislike for allopathy, says he’ll not get vaccinated because he has the “double protection” of Yoga and Ayurveda.

Millions of Ramdev’s followers think like him. Then, there are the poorly educated, and the simply literate, who do not have access to correct information because the Government does not disseminate correct information. Haphazard delivery of vaccines, nowadays because of vaccine shortages, has also contributed to the impact of vaccine hesitancy. It feeds the “agale haftey dekhlenge” syndrome.

The problem is India is a democracy. Unlike in China, Indians cannot be frog-marched to vaccination centres. And unlike in the United States, India has a shortage of vaccines. Both these facts ensure that the Covid-19 vaccination in India will take a long time to vaccinate all despite the Modi Government’s resolve to vaccinate 70% of India’s adult population by December-end, 2021.

Nothing that’s happening in India gives us the confidence that the various “governments of India” would be able to meet the deadline. The bodies floating on the Ganga, the shallow graves, the state of hospitals, the lack of medical supplies, none of them lend credence to the claim.

According to a report, the AMU graveyard ran out of space in April, and very few AMU staff got vaccinated, at least till the middle of May. Most of India’s rural population refuse to accept that there is corona. The majority of the farmers gathered at Delhi’s borders do not. But there is hope. Dr. Farah Husain of LNJP Hospital, the largest Covid-19 hospital in Delhi, says she has seen too many people “suffer” due to Covid-19, and that vaccines are the ray of hope. “I’ve taken my first shot, I’ve taken my second shot, and I’m perfectly fine,” she says. “Once the entire world is vaccinated will be the end of Covid-19.” (IPA Service)