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Vaccine hesitancy in India frustrates officials
Villagers' reluctance to get jabbed hampers efforts to inoculate all adults by December
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A vaccination camp in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district earlier this month. A daunting combination of widespread illiteracy and aggressive spread of misinformation overwhelms the government's inadequate counteroffensive in Sambhal.
ST PHOTO: DEBARSHI DASGUPTA
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For a long time, officials seeking to drive up Covid-19 vaccination rates in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district were up against a giant roadblock - the local Member of Parliament, Mr Shafiqur Rahman Barq.
The 91-year-old had described Covid-19 as "God's punishment for our sins" in July last year and steered clear of vaccination. In April, he fired another salvo, saying he did not need a jab.
