Vaccine hesitancy

Like elsewhere in the country, the Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been recorded at nearly 190,000 in the province. Ironically the provincial government is now focusing more on motivating people to get the booster jabs than on primary inoculation. This is preposterous given that more than half the people have not yet received even the first injection in K-P. The government is not, however, entirely to blame for the deteriorating Covid-19 situation, though its priorities seem to be misplaced. The national organisation dealing with coronavirus has tightened curbs to control the highly contagious super spreader.

The slow rate of inoculation in some places is largely attributable to vaccine hesitancy among people. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, a clear-cut divide has emerged between the pro-vaccine camp and the anti-vaxxers. This is considerably hindering the government’s efforts to inoculate the whole population, because even one unvaccinated person can potentially upset the whole vaccination drive. The un-inoculated pose serious risks to the fully vaccinated considering the contagious nature of the coronavirus. What makes the Omicron mutation more dangerous is its vaccine-escape phenomenon. It can infect those who have earlier recovered from the illness. Now it is being witnessed that a vast majority of people are disregarding precautions.

This care-free attitude is endangering their lives and those of others. Vaccine hesitancy is prevalent in all countries and across all classes of people. Amazingly, even when the anti-vaxxers have seen the catastrophe caused by the dreaded virus in all parts of the world, they are sticking to their rigid stance. The havoc inflicted by coronavirus around them and media coverage of the disastrous pandemic have failed to move them. They should obligingly provide a push to the vaccination drive. Experts are of the view that many preventable diseases are re-emerging because of vaccine refusal by anti-vaxxers. Get anti-Covid jabs and adhere to corona protocols. Protect yourself and others from the dreaded infection.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2022.

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