Odisha

Vaccination Team Rescued After Being Detained By Villagers in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj

By
OB Bureau

Baripada: COVID-19 cases are surging on the back of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, but vaccine hesitancy refuses to go.

A vaccination team was detained for several hours on Monday evening by local villagers at Talsari, under Badakhaman panchayat in Udala block of Mayurbhanj district. So much so that police personnel and administrative officials had to rush to the spot to rescue the team.

It took Udala Block Development Officer (BDO), local Tehsildar and police officials almost six hours to convince villagers and let go the vaccination team — which included an Anganwadi worker and an ASHA worker.

“I reached the village at around 2 pm and was detained by the villagers since. I tried to persuade them to get the jab, but they did not listen to us. They kept saying that there is nothing called coronavirus,” said Anganwadi worker Soumya Murmu.

Some villagers of Talsari were reportedly given the COVID vaccine a day earlier. But when the Anganwadi and ASHA workers visited the village to inoculate the remaining villagers, some of them said they were fit and healthy, and didn’t need vaccination, while others stated they will get their shot after the harvest season of paddy.

As the health workers tried to convince them, the villagers got annoyed and detained them.

“The vaccination team forcefully vaccinated some people during a campaign. The harvest season has started and the villagers are engaged in harvesting paddy crops. If we fall ill after getting vaccinated, how will we carry out harvesting work,” local resident Surendra Murmu alleged.

BDO Debjani Bhuyan felt there is miscommunication and lack of awareness about the vaccine among villagers.

We will have a discussion with them soon and conduct an awareness drive on it,” she said.

Despite the Odisha government going all out to push vaccination, over 30 lakh people are yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine.

OB Bureau

Recent Posts

IPL Auction: KKR Break Bank For Venkatesh On Lucrative Day For Indian Players; Check Top Buys

Mumbai: The first day of the IPL mega player auction at Jeddah threw up several…

November 24, 2024

Odisha Govt Hands Over Case Of Attack On Dharmasala MLA To Crime Branch

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has handed over the investigation into the attack on Dhramasala MLA…

November 24, 2024

Commissionerate Police Issues Traffic Advisory During Winter Session Of Odisha Assembly; Details Here

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate of Police on Sunday issued an advisory for movement of vehicular traffic…

November 24, 2024

Elon Musk Proposal: Fire US Federal Employees Who Want To Work From Home

New York: Now that President-elect Donald Trump has tasked Elon Musk with the responsibility of co-heading…

November 24, 2024

Odisha Govt Warns Of Stern Action For Renting Out Its Quarters

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has warned its employees of stern action for sub-letting their allotted…

November 24, 2024

AR Rahman Best Man In The World, Certifies Saira Banu; Then Why Their Separation?

Mumbai: There has been a lot of talk over AR Rahman and his wife Saira…

November 24, 2024

Process On To Form NODC In 2-3 Months, Says Odisha CM Mohan Majhi

Sundargarh: The North Odisha Development Council (NODC) would be formed in 2-3 months, said Chief…

November 24, 2024

Odisha DGP Reviews Security Arrangements For President’s Visit To Puri

Puri: Director General of Police (DGP) YB Khurania on Sunday reviewed the security arrangements for…

November 24, 2024