- Sunday, February 23, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Shubham Ghosh
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has breached India’s rural borders and it is not just the shortage of vaccines and oxygen which has restricted the country’s fight against the menace. In India’s not-so-developed belts, superstitions pose equal challenges to the authorities in their battle against the killer disease. Sarpanches or village heads around Raipur, the capital of the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, are facing such problems.
ThePrint carried a report on Thursday, June 3, saying the village authorities are not only worried over the fast spread of the disease that has affected almost a million people in the state so far but also facing a hard time in quashing the local people’s fears that the vaccines meant to protect them against Covid-19 could see them getting impotent.
Libidos waning because of vax, claim locals
According to the report, a number of villagers have said that their libidos waned after taking the shot and that has kept many young people, particularly the unmarried, away from the vaccination centres. The claims have only been made stronger by social media and the sarpanches rued that such “rumours” have impacted the vaccination drive in the villages. India is already facing a mammoth challenge in getting its citizens vaccinated, thanks to a crumbling health infrastructure but such social realities make it evident that only problem is not just logistical.
The Print cited Hemant Thakur, the sarpanch of Khauna village, located around 30 kilometres from Raipur, saying all the men who have been vaccinated in the village which has about 5,000 eligible people are above 45. He said those in the age group of 18-44 are afraid that they would become sexually impotent if they took the jab. Thakur, 50, even tried to convince people that he was doing fine even after taking two shots but failed.
Sahil Khan, deputy sarpanch of Dharsiwa village, which is also not too far from the state capital, told The Print that a relative of his complained of waning sexual vigour after taking the first jab. A similar situation has been seen in Siltara village where 14 people have died from Covid-19 or its symptoms in the last 60 days.
People are complacent after taking first shot?
The story doesn’t end here either. There have been instances where people have died even after taking the first shot and that has convinced the villagers that even the vaccine cannot stop Covid-19’s onslaught. But according to Raipur District Panchayat president Domeshwari Verma, it is the complacency after taking the first shot which is killing people. Speaking to The Print, she said: “The second wave has killed nearly 250 people in villages around Raipur. Many deaths remain unverified. The mortality rate has worried villagers. Those who died after the shot took things for granted. Many were infected as they ignored Covid-appropriate behaviour, went out and socialised.” Her team has tried to make people understand that it is only after the second dose that they grow proper immunity against the disease.
The local administration is leaving no stone unturned to educate people. District Collector Dr S Bharathi Dasan said NGOs were carrying out door-to-door counselling to convince people to take the jab. He also said that local administrative officers were working hard to build confidence so that people take the dose in large numbers for a greater social interest. Dasan said while the administration is assisting the villagers to register for vaccination at the state portal cgteeka.cgstate.gov.in, he also promised that special vaccination camps would be held in villages if the requirement arises and things will improve in the days ahead, the report added.
India currently is the second-worst affected country in the world with more than 28 million people reporting positive. Its death toll stands at 337,989, second only to the US and Brazil.
