Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Residents of 4 villages in Thane reluctant to get jabs
Some fear vaccines may lead to death, pour lemon drops in nostrils of senior citizens to keep Covid at bay; ZP officials hold awareness drives, puppet shows
THANE: With merely seven per cent of the people vaccinated in the four rural talukas of Thane district, the Thane Zilla Parishad (ZP) officials are now looking for some innovative ideas and perks to motivate people to get jabbed.
The officials claimed that villagers and tribals from small hamlets in Bhiwandi,
Shahpur and Murbad villages were unwilling to take vaccination due to a lot of misconceptions doing the rounds. Most of the families have also gone up the hills to stay and escape the eyes from the authorities.
The ZP officials have been requesting people not to get scared. They are also counselling them on all the misconceptions and superstitions related to the vaccine. The officials have also involved social activists, teachers and Anganwadi workers to reach out to these villages and tribal hamlets.
The population of the four talukas – Shahpur, Murbad, Ambernath and Bhiwandi Rural – is about 14 lakh, of which only one lakh have been vaccinated so far. The authorities claimed that the people from the urban areas are now crowding the vaccination centres in these areas due to the lack of takers among the locals. In a survey conducted by the ZP, it was revealed that people were scared to get vaccinated as they had heard it led to loss of vision, other grave health issues or even death.
One of the Asha workers, Savitri Kute from Ambernath rural, said, “A tribal hamlet in Thane rural had 250 people, out of which more than 70 per cent were above 45 years. Some people told them that vaccination might lead to death, or in some cases, organs were removed from their body. Instead of vaccination, they were told to just pour lemon drops in the nostrils of senior citizens to keep Covid away. We went there, met the people and counselled them that these are merely myths and there was no truth to them.”
However, many of them also avoided talking to the volunteers.
The Asha workers even performed puppet shows to grab the attention of the tribals. Kute said, “After four such performances, 15 villages came forward seeking vaccination and gradually the others were approaching us.”
Zilla Parishad health officer, Manisha Renge, said that they created a team of teachers and volunteers with artistic skills. “We looked for people who had some experience in performing arts, understood the language and lifestyle of these tribals to form a link with them. The team penned a few folk songs like Bharud (Marathi folk art form), painted colourful posters and staged plays and puppet shows. The awareness drives focused on Covid-19 and vaccination.”
Apart from creating awareness, the ZP officials also came up with several perks to entice the villagers.
Kundan Patil, member of ZP health committee from Bhiwandi, said, “We are trying every trick in the book to get the villagers vaccinated. People here believed that they would get severe side effects and would have to be admitted in hospitals. We agreed to give them one month’s ration to get vaccinated. This encouraged many to get the vaccine.” A ZP official said, “Getting jabbed will ease the effects of the third wave. Moreover, we also want to stop them from adopting wrong home remedies that created a false sense of security.”