New Delhi, Nov 19 (FN Representative) With no third wave in sight and a steady decline in cases have led to a rise in hesitancy to take the Covid-19 vaccine, a survey finds out. According to the latest survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform, has estimated that 11.5 crore unvaccinated Indian adults are currently hesitant to take the Covid vaccination. The number of hesitant population has risen from 7 crores to 11.5 crores in the last 30 days, according to the survey. “Around 11.5 crore adults are currently hesitant for several reasons. They should be the primary outreach target for Government awareness and sensitisation programs,” it outlined. The survey, covering about 309 districts of India having with 62 per cent men and 38 per cent women, said 75 crore adults out of the 94 crore adult population have already gotten their first dose.
The survey findings were applied to the 19 crores of unvaccinated population and found that 4.37 crore citizens may take the vaccine as soon as they get the opportunity, it said. “Of the estimated hesitant population, 4.37 crore citizens are hesitant because of side effects that worry them, and 2.85 crore citizens are currently of the mindset that they will not take the vaccine. Then there are the 4.37 crore citizens who believe that they cannot take the vaccine due to a medical condition they currently have,” the survey explained. Meanwhile, the survey also found that another 3.04 crore citizens, as per estimates, are awaiting more information on vaccines, variants, the efficacy of existing vaccines and introduction of more vaccines before forming a decision to get vaccinated.
While these are approximations based on the application of survey findings to the unvaccinated population, it does provide a broad idea of how the hesitant pie might be looking like, the survey added. According to LocalCircles founder, Sachin Taparia, citizens from multiple states have reported how they are being coerced or forced to take the vaccine by authorities by either taking away certain benefits or by denying entry privileges to the public places. “The focus of Central and State Governments and health teams on the ground should be to share as much information through the awareness drives about the benefits of vaccination and how people with different medical conditions can take the vaccine,” he said.