4,437 Bengaluru households refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19: BBMP survey

Many are also alcoholics and fear that they may have to give up alcohol for days due to the possible side effects, an official explained

Launching a block and lane-level vaccination survey covering households of Bengaluru a few days ago, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has discovered that about 10,000 people in more than 4,400 households have refused to get jabbed.

Despite repeated efforts and innovative techniques to achieve 100% vaccination, many people, a majority of them in slums, have refused to undergo vaccination for various reasons. According to data made available by BBMP, of the 76,373 households surveyed, as many as 4,437 said they have not been vaccinated.

“There is still a lot of resistance, especially in slums,” said a BBMP officer from East Zone who is part of the survey. “The major hindrance in these areas with people from lower-income groups is that they are afraid of side effects,” he said. A few residents even slammed their doors on the survey staff. People cited missing work if they fall ill after the jab for their reluctance.

Also Read | Covid vaccine hesitancy in India at lowest level, only 7% adults now hesitant: Survey

“Many are also alcoholics and fear that they may have to give up alcohol for days due to the possible side effects. A few even said they will lose their earnings by spending a day in vaccine queues and also in case they fall ill after the shot,” the official explained.

Commenting on the trend, Randeep D, Special Commissioner (Health) BBMP said, “There have been cases where people say they are occupied with work and are pressed for time. A few of them also avoided vaccination promising they will get jabbed later. We have also identified a few blocks where there is total resistance. In such cases, we have instructed the surveyors to mark those blocks on the map and report them to the head office.”

He said a centralised awareness and IEC (Information, Education and Communication) strategy will be implemented to handle those blocks in the coming days.

Going by the data, South Zone topped the chart with 1,128 households remaining unvaccinated followed by West Zone with 780 households.

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