A concern that resurfaced following the events of the past week that witnessed a high-profile legal fight in Australia over star tennis player Novak Djokovic’s vaccination status.
He was deported after he lost the visa battle on grounds that he was unvaccinated and did not fulfil the criteria to participate in the Australian Open tournament.

The reluctance of people to receive safe and recommended available vaccines is known as ‘vaccine hesitancy’.
This was already a growing concern before the COVID-19 pandemic.
A framework developed from research done in high-income countries, called ‘the 5C model of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy’, provides five main individual person–level determinants for vaccine hesitancy:
Confidence
Complacency
Convenience (or constraints)
Risk calculation
Collective responsibility

Freedom of Choice: Djokovic’s incident has brought forth different viewpoints – one which argues against vaccine mandate – saying getting vaccinated is a freedom of choice.
Common cause of public good: While the other point of view is that vaccination is the only and the best way to end the pandemic and the global misery it has caused.

Questions raised by vaccine hesitancy

To end the pandemic, wherein no one is safe until everyone is safe, how relevant and strong are the arguments on freedom of choice?
How is the fight against this global crisis impacted when prominent personalities assert on making a choice contrary to global good?
Amid the raging pandemic and the persistent threat of future waves, how can vaccine scepticism and hesitancy be addressed worldwide?

Re-surging of covid cases: Amid the ongoing Omicron surge, there have been reports pointing to the unvaccinated population driving the current surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe and US.
Risk of future waves and danger mutations: Large scale vaccine hesitancy could drag the pandemic longer by ensuring sustained continuance of the COVID-19 diseases and emergence of newer and deadlier variants.

Scepticism: There are many reasons for vaccine scepticism. Vaccine hesitancy is complex and context specific varying across time, place and vaccines.
Fake news: The conspiracy theories on social media have brought negative publicity for vaccination. These seem to have created propaganda against the vaccines.
Malfunctions: The sensational highlighting of vaccine fatalities event by the media is driving vaccine hesitancy to some extent.
Myths and beliefs: In some places radical religious factors have driven vaccine hesitancy resulting in myth against vaccines. This is also a leading factor of prevalence of Polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Policy fluctuations: The frequent flip-flops by governments on the vaccination issue have resulted in a low trust among the general populace regarding vaccination.
Public trust: Vaccine hesitancy is also influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence.

Public threat: Reluctance for vaccination goes against another person’s right to good health given the fact that no one is safe until everyone is safe.
Community safeguard: Given that all humans share a common space, the decision to not get vaccinated by a section of the population would undermine the interests of others sharing the common spaces.
Immunization: Vaccination coverage will help boost immunity against the disease and will thus help save precious lives. It will also help reduce load on the stretched healthcare sector.
Controlling of future mutations: Universal vaccination will help reduce the chances of evolution of new variants and could help end the pandemic.

With no “one-size-fits-all” solution to vaccine hesitancy, contextualised and curated approaches are crucial.

Dispelling misinformation: There is the need to dispel all misinformation – unscientific, incorrect and unsubstantiated.
Community engagement: The diversity of India necessitates community engagement at the local level to counter this narrative of misinformation.
Counselling: WHO has put forth the BeSD (behavioural and social drivers) vaccination model, which emphasises “motivation” as the vanguard of human psychology during a vaccination drive.
Standard safeguards: The fact that vaccines meet the necessary safety standards set by the various organizations needs to be highlighted.
Responsible journalism: The media should indulge in responsive reporting especially in cases involving reports of adverse events of vaccination.
Vaccine equality: Apart from addressing the vaccine hesitancy issue, it is also equally important to address the issue of vaccine inequity. There is the need to ensure access of affordable, quality and timely vaccines to all.
Highlighting success: Countries must highlight the success observed due to the vaccination programmes, wherein despite rapid rise in cases the hospitalization and death rates remain within controllable limits.

Vaccines mitigate the chances of contracting Covid-19.
There is no caveat to this singular truth.
Thinking local and utilising established networks to create culturally resonant messages is the need of the hour to reduce vaccine hesitancy, bridge the digital divide and achieve vaccine saturation.

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