Covid-19 Vaccine Mired In Myths and Doubts in Pakistan

The biggest vaccine campaign in history has begun and the first Covid-19 jabs have been reportedly given to more than 1.6 million people in four countries as per the data collected by Bloomberg. However, in Pakistan, people have commenced a debate over the shots and their use.

United States (US) kicked off its inoculation process in December this year. The countries like China and Russia developed their vaccine in July and August respectively and have immunized hundreds of thousands of people since then.

The nations are hankering to get relief from the novel coronavirus and pouring billions of dollars to inoculate their populations.

Unlike other countries, the natives in Pakistan are claiming the Covid-19 vaccine as the portent of infertility in men and women.

Earlier, the poliovirus vaccine also faced rejection and was accused as the “jab of infertility”.

The misconceptions about the vaccine caused a rise in polio cases in Pakistan and made more children vulnerable to the disease.

As countries are in a race to develop and get hold of the Covid-19 vaccine, people in Pakistan are raising questions over the use of pork products in its production.

The claims have been made that the vaccine is having pork-derived gelatin as a stabilizer to ensure its safety and storage. However, companies like Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca have confirmed that their vaccines are free of pork-derived gelatin.

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A worrying debate about the side-effects of the vaccine is also floating on the surface.

However, as per the government of Pakistan, the number of active cases in the country has reached 40,491 with 9,392 fatalities.

All 1.6 million people who were inoculated in four countries including the United States and the United Kingdom are doing fine whereas the global death fatalities have reached 1,680,395 according to World Health Organization (WHO).

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries with active poliovirus cases as per WHO. The misbeliefs in Pakistan regarding the polio vaccine is causing real damage to the country.

If misconceptions related to Covid-19 will also continue to float in the country, Pakistan would probably remain among the states who will have to fight with novel coronavirus for long.