NEWS  A storm of misinformation around COVID­-19 vaccines may seriously dent the fight against the pandemic.

CONTEXT  After a year of unprecedented changes, chaos and panic, COVID­-19 vaccines are the most awaited products of 2021. But though mass vaccination drives have begun, the response has been lukewarm despite the availability, affordability, and accessibility of the jabs to healthcare, sanitation, and frontline workers.

To date, two vaccines have been approved for inoculation in India: Pune­based Serum Institute’s Covishield and Hyderabad­ based Bharat Biotech’s Covexin.

VACCINE HESITANCY

• According to the World Health Organization, vaccine hesitancy is defined as a reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccine services.
• Like Western nations, vaccine hesitancy has been a cause of concern in the past in India as well. For instance, U.P. witnessed a sudden dip in the uptake of oral polio vaccines when the Muslim community was struck by misconceptions that the vaccine led to illness and infertility; Hesitancy for the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine was sufficiently high in the Malappuram district of Kerala to render community immunisation a challenging goal.
• Vaccine hesitancy is as old as the concept of vaccination itself. However, in times of uncertainty, people are particularly susceptible to misinformation due to an intricate combination of cognitive, social and algorithmic biases i.e., information overload and limited attention spans.

CAUSES FOR COVID VACCINE HESITANCY

The debates around hesitancy for COVID­19 vaccines include concerns over safety, efficacy, and side effects due to the record breaking timelines of the vaccines, competition among several companies, misinformation, and religious taboos.

According to a survey conducted by LocalCircles in December, a community social media platform, about 69% of the respondents said they will not rush to vaccinate themselves against the pandemic. Another survey indicates that 55% of healthcare professionals are hesitant to take the vaccine; 64% prefer to do an antibody test before vaccination.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED

Despite negligibly low cases of adverse effects reported so far, such notions have impacted our vaccination efforts. People can choose to not be inoculated, but to break the chain of transmission, it is imperative to have the right strategy in place.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

• It is suggested to adopt the idea of libertarian paternalism, a concept of behavioural science, which says it is possible and legitimate to steer people’s behaviour towards vaccination while still respecting their freedom of choice.
• Instead of anti-vaxxers, the target audience must be the swing population i.e., people who are sceptical but can be persuaded through scientific facts and proper communication.
• People need to pause before they share any ‘news’ from social media. It becomes crucial to inculcate the habit of inquisitive temper to fact­check any news related to COVID­19 vaccines.
• Use the celebrity effect — the ability of prominent personalities to influence others to take vaccines.
• The infodemic around vaccines can be tackled only by actively debunking myths, misinformation and fake news on COVID­19 vaccines.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/combating-vaccine-hesitancy/article33854364.ece