Corona, Why Should Vaccinate?

Doctors attribute the low level of awareness and false rumors as the reason for people’s lack of confidence in receiving corona vaccine.

While many people have not yet been vaccinated against the coronavirus or are not interested in receiving this vaccine for various reasons, the officials of the Ministry of Public Health say that about 12 million people in Afghanistan have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Dr. Sharafat Zaman, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, says that this is the statistic that the World Health Organization had set as a target for Afghanistan to restrain the coronavirus.

“In Afghanistan, about 12 million people have received corona vaccine and they are still active in about 380 centers across the country to apply this corona vaccine.”

Zaman also adds that the corona vaccination campaign has started in 17 provinces of the country a few days ago.

Facebook Disbeliefs

These figures are presented while many Afghans are still not interested in receiving the corona vaccine for various reasons and reject it by expressing their opinions on Facebook. Meanwhile, some are afraid of the side effects of corona vaccine, some consider it to be ineffective, and there are also people who call it carcinogenic.

Noor Agha, a resident of Kabul city, is one of these people who posted on his Facebook page: “This vaccine has side effects, so I don’t want to receive the vaccine.”

Khaled Ahmadi expresses his opinion as follows: “One of our neighbors was vaccinated and died before reaching home, so I do not vaccinate myself.”

Another person named Ali Malangzai, saying that the harm of the corona vaccine is more than its benefit, wrote: “I got vaccinated, the harm is more than the benefit, and now I regret it.”

Another citizen named Hamid Ghorbani also wrote: “I received a vaccine and it nearly killed me.”

Another citizen named Safiullah said: “I did not vaccinate because it causes cancer.”

Ishaq Jafari goes further and writes: “I am afraid that the vaccine will kill me before Corona.”

What are people saying?

It is not only social media where people express distrust towards the corona vaccine, but also a large number of people in Kabul and some provinces are not interested in receiving the corona vaccine.

40-year-old Noor Ahmad, who lives in Kabul, says that he has not gotten infected with corona and does not believe in the vaccine.

“I haven’t had the corona yet and I don’t know if this vaccine will be useful or not.”

Fazel Rahim, a 50-year-old resident of Maidan Wardak province, says that false rumors about the corona vaccine made him avoid the vaccine: “The rumors indicated that people will experience tough conditions after receiving the corona vaccine. The fever rises and the person becomes very weak.”

35-year-old Naser Ahmad, a resident of Logar province, says that the effectiveness of the corona vaccine has not been proven for him so far, and on the other hand, the competition between the companies manufacturing the vaccine for this virus has made him distrustful: “There are several types of vaccines and from several countries. I don’t know.” To believe the vaccine of China, the US, or other countries.

People say that by receiving the vaccine, several other diseases can be found in the body.”

Khaliqdad, 80 years old, who lives in Kandahar province, says that he does not have enough information about the corona vaccine: “I don’t know about its benefits, nor about its harms. If the vaccine is available, I will use it, but so far no one has brought it for us.”

A number of doctors also confirm people’s false beliefs about corona vaccine and say that it should be prevented.

Why Rumors?

Doctors also confirm that the existence of false beliefs and rumors has affected the process of getting the corona vaccine. They ask people not to fuel these rumors and want to increase awareness campaigns.

Dr. Mohammad Yusuf Tayyeb, head of the Islamic Medicine Association in Afghanistan, says that people’s lack of knowledge and lack of access to accurate information about the coronavirus has made them fall into the trap of rumors: “We have to show the benefits of the corona vaccine practically and we should inform the people in the way they like. People should be informed about the corona vaccine through visual and audio media, social media, university professors, and scholars.”

However, Dr. Mohammad Hakim Safi says that there is more disbelief in the corona vaccine in remote areas than in cities.

“I ask the government to guide the scholars to encourage people to take the corona vaccine during Friday prayers so that rumors and negative thoughts are removed from their minds.”

But the Ministry of Public Health says that people have been informed enough about the coronavirus vaccine.

Dr. Sharafat Zaman says that along with public awareness, people getting infected with the coronavirus has made others get enough information about this disease and its vaccine.

“Nearly three years have passed since the third wave of corona in Afghanistan. Now people have enough information about it. I don’t think there is anyone left who is afraid of the corona vaccine.”

Zaman adds that all steps to prevent coronavirus infection, from public awareness to prevention and treatment, have been implemented correctly.

Should we get a vaccine or not?

However, the evidence shows that Corona is a very dangerous disease and we must find a vaccine along with preventive measures.

Currently, various coronavirus vaccines, including those from Sino Pharm and Sinovac, Astrazeneka, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna, are manufactured and approved by the World Health Organization and are widely used worldwide.

Doctors advise that the time of false rumors about corona vaccine is over and people should get vaccinated.

Dr. Mohammad Yusuf Tayeb, the head of the Islamic Medicine Association in Afghanistan, says: “As a doctor, I recommend all people to receive the corona vaccine because by doing this, they can become immune to the corona disease and if the body’s defense system has problems, will recover and thus be saved from this virus, so we should vaccinate ourselves and encourage people to get vaccinated.”

Dr. Mohammad Hakim Safi also asks people not to believe rumors and vaccinate themselves. “Fortunately, vaccination centers have increased recently and you can save yourself and your family from this disease.”

According to the information from the Ministry of Public Health, in the last three months, 6,000 positive cases of the coronavirus have been registered in Afghanistan, while in the middle of 2022, more than 6,000 positive cases were registered every month.

Experts and doctors say that one of the main reasons for the reduction in cases of coronavirus is the widespread implementation of the vaccine and the implementation of national campaigns.

Translated by: Shir Ali Jafari