'Rumour mongering' makes Covid-19 vaccination tough for Nagaland district, Kiphire

From cash rewards to awareness drives and even sermons by pastors during Church services, nothing seems to be making much headway to break Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Kiphire, an interior district in Nagaland with the lowest vaccination.

Kiphire drew a lot of attention in the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi held on Wednesday with officials of 48 districts from across the country still with less than 50 per cent first dose coverage. Kiphire was identified by the Centre as the district with the lowest first dose coverage of only 16% even as the average vaccination across the country crossed 70%.

"Vaccine hesitancy is everywhere but it is more acute in our district," deputy commissioner of Kiphire, T. Wati Aier told DH over the phone on Thursday.

"It is mainly due to rumour-mongering by some people who claim about the adverse impact of Covid-19 vaccination. Rumours such as those taking vaccines will die after two years, women becoming infertile and some others are being spread through social media. We announced cash rewards for villages registering 100% vaccination and for the nurses achieving maximum vaccination.

"We have been taking help of NGOs to spread awareness and even urged the pastors to encourage people in their sermons to take vaccines. But nothing seems to be making much headway," Aier said.

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"There are five-six villages where no one has still taken the vaccines," he added.

The deputy commissioner said tough terrain, communication problems faced during the rainy season (May to September) and low literacy level (68% against over 80% in Nagaland) are some of the other hurdles faced by the district administration in achieving the vaccination target.

"Even as the Centre is saying our first dose vaccination is 16%, it is not so. It is 29%. Maybe they excluded the healthcare personnel and other frontline workers," Aier said.

Kiphire with a 74,000 population has reported over 200 Covid-19 cases and nine persons have succumbed to the virus infection so far. Four active persons are still in home isolation, the DC said.

Of the 48 districts with less than 50 per cent first dose coverage, 27 are in the Northeast and eight of them are in Nagaland and Manipur.

"Since the PM has given the 48 districts one month time to ramp up vaccination, I have convened a meeting of all officials on Monday to chalk out an action plan. We will take the help of the Gaonburhas (village headmen), village councils, ward members, NGOs, community leaders on how to fight the vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination. We will also make short videos and spread those through social media to counter the rumours," Aier said.

Nagaland reported 31,879 Covid-19 positive cases, out of which 195 are still active. The state registered 672 deaths.

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