Use every tool to overcome hesitancy on tests, vaccines

The second wave of Covid-19 is wreaking havoc in rural areas as well as our big cities, unlike the first one which had mainly hit urban dwellers. Reports coming from rural India are quite depressing as everything that plagues Indian villages plays a role in frustrating the attempts by health workers and local government representatives in getting people tested for the deadly virus. The people who live there have very little access to authentic information on what is happening all around them; they trust the quack more than the qualified physician; they are comfortable with him and his magic potions and home remedies much more than with evidence-based medicine and its elaborate protocols; they have very little health infrastructure to depend on; they fear the ways of officialdom — once their names appear on governmental records, they are done, they fear. So, they assume that if they test positive, they will be forcibly moved to government facilities, from which they are not sure when or if they will ever return. What will happen to their jobs, and who will take care of the rest of their family – these are the big questions on their minds. Why take risk when the quack can more than cure them?

There is very little point in blaming the villagers; there are urbanites who continue to believe that hot water, when gulped, will kill the virus on its way to the intestine. A pinch of turmeric powder mixed with milk is another panacea and the virus’ nemesis, WhatsApp messages will tell you, and many people still believe it. There are those who earnestly believe that they can build immunity overnight and resist the onslaught of the microorganism; there are immunity boosters available in the market too. Vaccination is a waste, some of them feel, we would rather contract the disease and let the body manufacture its own antibodies, they would argue.

This is an area where the government must, and only the government can, intervene and set the record right. This message must pass down to every citizen that untested patients make themselves vulnerable, and that they will spread the infection among their near and dear ones if they delay getting tested or in getting vaccinated. The government needs to make sure that no one loses his/her job or is harassed at their workplace for undergoing the test or even for contracting the infection. It must be driven home that home remedies are okay as long as people follow the physician’s advice. They must be told upfront that we as a nation do not have the infrastructure that can take care of everyone who falls sick, and that they risk losing their lives if they don’t follow the scientific ways of keeping the virus at bay. The government must put every tool at its command and in the collective armoury of our society to defeat the virus. There is an urgent need to launch an information blitzkrieg on the pandemic aiming at emboldening the people to go in for testing and vaccination at the earliest. Every societal asset, be it governmental, media, religious, cultural, tribal, social or otherwise, must be tasked with taking the message to every home and get people out for testing and vaccination. Better be late than never.