In rural India, fear of testing and vaccines undermines fight against Covid-19

Health facilities are few and far between, while some villagers believe going to a public hospital is more dangerous than staying away

Experts say that India needs to apply the lessons learned in its campaign to vaccination children against polio

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An Indian health worker seeking to raise awareness about Covid-19 goes door-to-door in Kalwa village on the outskirts of Jind. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:54pm, 5 Jun 2021Updated: 1:06pm, 5 Jun 2021

When health worker Neelam Kumari knocks on doors in Indian villages the occupants sometimes run out the back, terrified that she wants to vaccinate them against Covid-19.

With India’s devastating recent virus surge easing in cities, the deadly pandemic is ravaging the vast poverty-stricken rural hinterland. But here, ignorance and fear rule.

“A lot of people in my village don’t want to take the vaccine. They fear that they will die if they take it,” Kumari said in Dhatrath, a collection of two-storey buildings in Haryana state with buffaloes wandering the streets.

“One of the villagers was so angry that he beat up a [health] worker who was trying to convince him to take the vaccine.”

Just 15 per cent of people in rural areas, compared with 30 per cent in towns and cities, have received at least one vaccine dose so far – even though two-thirds of cases are being reported in the countryside, according to an analysis by The Hindu daily.

Rumours are shared online or spread through messaging apps like WhatsApp. Fears that 5G causes Covid-19 led to mobile towers being attacked in Haryana.