As China forces India to mask up, study shows 64% still reluctant to take Covid booster dose

Only 28% of those surveyed have taken the booster shot; some said they were hesitant because the ‘vaccine caused heart attacks, strokes among young people’.

(Representational image) A health worker preparing to administer Covid vaccine at a hospital in New Delhi on 16 January 2021 | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: The findings of a recent survey is not likely to make things easier for Indian administrations as they reassess their preparedness following the Covid explosion in China.

It has found that a substantial 64 percent of respondents across India were reluctant to take the Covid-19 booster dose, with some still believing that the vaccine caused heart attacks in young people.

The study by social media advocacy LocalCircles also found that only 28 percent of those surveyed had taken the booster shot, while another eight percent planned to take it in the next 30 days.

Of the 64 percent naysayers, 53 percent said they had no plans at all to take the booster dose. Nine percent had not taken any Covid-19 shots and did not intend to get vaccinated. Two percent were undecided on whether they should take the booster dose. The reason behind this hesitancy was the belief that the vaccine causes heart attacks and strokes in young people.

In the Local Circles study, 51 percent said they have one or more individuals within their close network who have had a heart or a brain stroke, progressive cancer or a neurological condition in the last 2 years. This number stood at 31 percent a year ago.

A research paper conducted in the USA — linking mRNA vaccines to blood clotting in the elderly — had been confirmed by the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, the vaccines available in India – Covishield, the home-grown version of Oxford’s AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — are vector vaccines.

The survey received over 19,000 responses from citizens located in 309 districts of India. Sixty-six per cent of respondents were men while 34 percent were women. Forty-three percent of respondents were from tier 1 cities, 33 per cent from tier 2, and 24 percent respondents from tier 3 and 4 cities, as well as rural districts.

The study said the need of the hour was for the government to undertake comprehensive research which can prove that sudden deaths are not linked to Covid-19 vaccinations – thereby reducing hesitancy.