While the Government has come in for all round praise for its highly successful vaccination drive to combat the Coronavirus, including from the World Health Organization (WHO), the good work is facing the threat of coming unstuck due to the reluctance by some, particularly the younger generation, in submitting themselves for the jab, thereby blunting the effect of the whole noble exercise.
However, what is of grave concern is the consequences of the actions of these Nay Sayers, which poses the risk of infecting even those who have already been fully vaccinated and are out of the ‘danger zone’. Already, well over 50 percent of the population has received both shots of the vaccine and the country is nearing the safe zone. It needs only another 30 percent to be vaccinated for the country to achieve the herd immunity that would render it safe from the pandemic.
However, with large segments of the youth population saying ‘No’ to the vaccine due to various reasons there is the possibility of those who have already received both jabs getting themselves re-infected which will see another rise in the now dwindling number of positive cases bringing us back to square one.
The gravity of the situation was underlined by Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige whose opinion in this regard we featured in our main story on Wednesday. According to him, the younger generation’s reluctance to get themselves vaccinated due to various misconceptions poses a risk of COVID-19 spreading again. He pointed out that even while enough stocks of the vaccines have been received, youth between 20 and 29 are not keen to get vaccinated due to misconceptions and various posts on social media.
He pointed out that even the groups who have been vaccinated are being placed at risk due to vaccine hesitant groups, as the country opens. Dr. Ginige could not have been more to the point. This is because it is the young who are more in circulation in society and it is mostly the 20–29 age group who are engaged in employment in offices and factories who may transmit the virus to others.
We have a situation where the bulk of the vaccination programme has covered the over 60 age group (they are perceived to be more at risk) who are in retirement and confined to their homes posing no risk to others, while the young who are out at work but for reasons best known to them had spurned the jab going on to infect their workplace colleagues and others who have been fully vaccinated. Could there be a more dangerous situation than this? “By not getting vaccinated these persons as well as members of their households, friends and colleagues in their workplaces and the country itself will face a problematic situation,” Dr. Ginige rightly points out.
There are a multitude of reasons that have kept the young from getting vaccinated ranging from religious beliefs to fear of losing one’s virility (the latter view roundly debunked by medical experts). Fundamental rights too have crept into the equation, with legal luminaries threatening action in Courts against any forced vaccination attempts or threats to shun the unvaccinated from public places. What will be the use of all those colossal amounts spent to import the vaccines? Will it be money down the drain? What of the efforts of the Security Forces and medical staff who have been working round the clock to ensure the success of the vaccination programme? Is all that going to be an exercise in vain? The authorities should explore all available avenues to ensure that the vaccination programme does not come a cropper. A majority cannot be made to suffer due to the (vaccination) prejudices of a few.
Proper awareness programmes should be carried out to dispel all misconceptions surrounding the vaccines, targeting the youth. The young who are reluctant to take the vaccine should be mindful that, very soon, the school going population in this country too will be given the jab. This will make vaccination almost compulsory for all school goers under a uniform system. This ought to convince those shying away from the vaccine that it poses absolutely no danger. Surely the authorities would not go against expert medical opinion if this indeed was the case and endanger schoolchildren.
Some countries and companies have made vaccination compulsory and no member of the public could enter designated public places without producing the Vaccination Card physically or digitally. The Sri Lankan Government too had been floating such an idea for some time since the vaccination programme commenced but there have equally been some of its spokesmen who have thrown cold water on such an idea which perhaps may have emboldened some not to get themselves vaccinated. Hence a firm stand should be taken by the authorities, one way or the other, in this regard. The country certainly will no longer have any stomach to endure another large scale spread of the virus. Nor the economy another bout of lockdowns. Hard decisions are called for, even unpopular ones.
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