Trust the Govt to point at vaccine ‘hesitancy’ to explain vaccine ‘shortages

Some communities do not want to be vaccinated, we are being told, in a diversionary effort to build a narrative that absolves the Government for acute shortage of vaccines

Photo Courtesy: Social Media
Photo Courtesy: Social Media
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Ranjona Banerji

There’s an interesting narrative about vaccine hesitancy being built up in India.

Unlike right wing USA, this narrative is not based on crackpot conspiracy theories and beliefs that Covid19 cannot be prevented by a vaccine because a) the virus does not exist, b) the virus is a Chinese plot against the world and c) the whole thing from virus to vaccine is a massive marketing ploy by Big Pharma.

Of course, in spite of all this hesitancy, the USA has managed to vaccinate over 50 per cent of its population.

No, India’s “hesitancy” is an interesting little sideshow slowly being built to cover up for the Modi government’s shortcomings, and also to slyly otherize that “some communities” don’t want to be vaccinated.

The sad truth is that even if there are small pockets of hesitancy, India’s big problem is an extreme vaccine shortage. There are clashes going on at hospitals and vaccine centres according to newspaper reports. There are huge queues at vaccine centres.

There is immense frustration while trying to negotiate the Central government’s Cowin app and portal. People have not managed to get their second shots of either Covishield or Covaxin. The Centre has continuously changed its protocols for the second dose for Covishield from four weeks to six to eight weeks to 12 to 16 weeks; but underlying story is that these changes are trying to deflect attention from vaccine shortages. With Covaxin, there is only one 28-day protocol, and many have missed that deadline.

Opening up vaccines to the 19 to 44 age group without adequate vaccine supplies has further distressed people and complicated vaccine rollouts for state administrations. There are reports of city techies beating the Central government app to find vaccine supplies for villages. There are reports of people in rural India without mobile phones and internet knowledge and access struggling to get round this enforced technology hurdle.

Rather than sort all this out, the Centre has embarked on its usual strategy: manipulation and division. The states were blamed, the states tried to order vaccines and were blamed for that as well. The number of hidden deaths being revealed was countered with trying to launch an international Doordarshan channel. People who objected to the government’s incompetence were presented as unfair politics. And so on.

The Centre’s position on vaccines continuously vacillates and almost none of its statements are dependent on facts. RS Sharma, head of the National Health Authority explained to us dimwit citizens that so what if there were no vaccines, the government app worked because we could register on it. As if registration is the goal for people who want to get vaccinated (although we do understand it is a goal for a government which wants to track people).

Various ministers promised us more vaccines in May, June, July, August, the end of 2021 and so on. The Union Finance Minister emphatically stated that children were not being vaccinated anywhere which demonstrated a pathetic shortfall in current information. Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried on with his usual baffling banalities which are known as masterstrokes in his fan universe.


And headlines happily announced that India has vaccinated 20 crore people, a world record. That India’s population is also practically a world record is almost never mentioned. And like all such “facts”, let us remember that if a country’s population is 20 crore or 200 million, then they’ve vaccinated everyone. How many has India managed percentage wise?

So far according to Our World in Data, we have managed to vaccinate just over 10 per cent of our massive population, once. With a population of over 1.3 billion, you can work out just how proud we ought to be of 200 million vaccinated and the long battle ahead. Including with the very small pockets of hesitancy, which sadly can also be set at the doors of mixed messages from a clueless, callous Central government.

At the current rate and considering how much time it’s going to take to procure enough vaccinations for the whole population, it’s anyone guess how long it will take to vaccinate everyone. There is growing global anger that the Modi government’s inefficiency has also slowed down vaccination rates in other countries, which had placed orders for vaccines with Indian manufacturers. The Modi government has stopped all exports to cope with India’s own needs. A little common sense and foresight would have prevented both of these impossible situations.

Any good news that the current Covid19 wave in India seems to be on a downward curve is countered by a large population denied protection.

(The writer is a leading columnist and commentator. Views are personal)

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