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Case Stories
Understanding and overcoming vaccine resistance caused by fear, misinformation.
"After observing that the community is offering major resistance towards the vaccine, I decided to educate them about it in a practical way. First, I motivated my family members and vaccinated every eligible member of my family and used it as proof of the vaccine's authenticity to persuade them. People who opposed the vaccine, criticized, and ignored me immediately after vaccination.
However, after seeing us as an example, they were able to distinguish between reality and myth. This drew them toward a more rational approach, and their minds subsequently opened," Minaj Ansari explained.
Minaj is a social mobilizer in Ranchi's Loyo village, which is part of the Loyo panchayat of the Mandar block. To deal with them, he proposed that even travel and religious pilgrimage would require this inoculation certificate, which people were forced to accept. After a month, the same people were convinced that getting vaccinated was a good idea. So far, the Mandar team of social mobilizers has facilitated 27 vaccination camps.
How frontline workers surmounted the vaccine hesitancy across the rural pockets of Jharkhand.
One of the major challenges in combating COVID -19 has been vaccine hesitancy. Following a common thread of reasons: resistance fuelled by misinformation, some pockets of the population in Jharkhand chose to keep away from the inoculation drive initially.
28-year-old Ritu Kumari is a social mobiliser from Masmano village under Sursa Panchayat in Mandar block. She did a laudable job of influencing approximately 2500 people from Sursa, Baski and Masmano villages falling under Sursa Panchayat.
“First of all, I did mass mobilisation citing my own example. Initially, the villagers were so frightened of this drive that they were ready die but not take the jab. Some men feared impotency while some of them assumed that this is some kind of rehabilitation drive to get them off liquor consumption.”
Ritu explained with wide-eyed astonishment. “Gradually after understanding that the benefits of taking the shot outweigh its risks; I used to walk them till the camp sites.”
Mobilizers addressed villagers' concerns and persuaded them to get vaccinated by acting as a bridge between communities and public health services.
28-year-old Ritu Kumari is a social mobiliser from Masmano village under Sursa Panchayat in Mandar block. She did a laudable job of influencing approximately 2500 people from Sursa, Baski and Masmano villages falling under Sursa Panchayat.
“First of all, I did mass mobilisation citing my own example. Initially, the villagers were so frightened of this drive that they were ready die but not take the jab. Some men feared impotency while some of them assumed that this is some kind of rehabilitation drive to get them off liquor consumption.”
Ritu explained with wide-eyed astonishment. “Gradually after understanding that the benefits of taking the shot outweigh its risks; I used to walk them till the camp sites.”
