'Those who take the jab die': Rumours mar Covid vaccination drive in rural India

Rumours and myths surrounding Covid-19 vaccines have thrown people in rural India into an abyss of fear and mistrust. India Today reached some of the remotest parts of India and tried to find the reason behind the vaccine phobia. Here's a ground report.

It is not the pandemic alone that officials are battling in India's hinterlands. Rumours and myths surrounding Covid-19 vaccines have thrown the rural folk into an abyss of fear and mistrust. The government may aim to vaccinate India's entire adult population by December, but the situation on the ground is different, with many villagers resisting the drive. Side-effects due to vaccination and reports of deaths even after taking the jab have fanned rumours that the Covid-19 vaccine is fatal. India Today reached some of the remotest parts of the country and tried to find the reason behind the vaccine phobia.