Nearly 70% Of Indians Are Hesitant To Take COVID-19 Vaccine

A new survey suggests that over 69% of Indians are not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The number is up from 61% in October.

The survey was conducted in 242 districts around the country with more than 18,000 participants. 66% of them were men while the remaining was women. The first study was carried out from October 15 and 20 while the second one was organized from December 10 to 15.

Founder of LocalCircles, the one behind the study, Sachin Tapiria states that the hesitancy increases after there is a decrease in the country’s number of daily COVID-19 cases. This means that people don’t feel the need to be injected with the vaccine anymore.

Other key reasons include limited or misinformation about the vaccines’ side-effects and efficacy levels.

Taparia adds that the Government can help with this by controlling fake news surrounding COVID-19 vaccines.

The hesitation against getting the COVID-19 vaccines is rising around the world as countries are accelerating the vaccine trialing process. WHO has highlighted this issue by saying that countries shouldn’t mandate COVID-19 vaccination. They should rather promote the use of these vaccines on the basis of merit.

In India, there are five vaccine candidates that are still under trial. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have announced that they would offer their people free COVID-19 vaccines. Three COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer, Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech were being considered by India’s drug regulator for early licensure.

According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India won’t have to wait for the COVID-19 vaccine for long. He also added that the vaccines would be given to preferred groups as soon as they are ready.

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