Vaccination program begin: Met with distrust and poor planning

August 9, 2021

HURFOM: In the last week of July, 2021, Burma started a national Covid-19 vaccination program using the China-made “Sinopharm” vaccine.

Although people have registered to be vaccinated, as rates of infections and deaths have taken a dramatic rise in the 3rd wave of the pandemic, some people are hesitant. People are either distrustful of the military junta and, or skeptical about the quality of the vaccine.

“I don’t want to be injected with the vaccine provided by the military junta,” said a lady from Yebyu Township.

Another resident of Ye Township said, “The vaccine provided by the military junta is made in China and we don’t know if it’s good or not. Those who are fully vaccinated are still being infected by the virus. We don’t trust the (quality of) the vaccine.”

The junta has prioritized specific categories of people to be the first to receive the vaccine. The list includes, elders (65 years of age or older), religious members, government staff and health workers, members of emergency rescue teams and charity groups, detainees and the prisoners, restaurant staff and workers with private companies.

How how the junta has established these classifications and is implementing injections reveals forms of discrimination. For example, a social activist from Ye Town pointed out, “The schoolteachers from the government schools can be vaccinated immediately but those from the Mon national schools have to wait a longer time. On July 29, two teachers from the Mon national school had to wait until evening to get vaccinated.”

In some townships, the process of vaccination has not been well prepared, resulting in large groups clustering together, which increases the risk of infection.

“The vaccination in our region isn’t systematic. There was a huge crowd that created a huge risk of infection. Then, the authority didn’t make a proper medical check before injecting the vaccine. I heard that those who had underlying health conditions caused by lung diseases and hypertension died after being vaccinated,” said a social worker from Lamine and Maw Ka Nin region.

Local people reported to HURFOM that those who publicly criticized the quality of the Sinopharm vaccine and urged others not to be vaccinated were threatened by the authorities.

“Those who got vaccinated didn’t share what they got and also, those who decided not to be vaccinated did not dare reveal their opinion. Because the authority threatened that those who criticized the quality of the vaccine would be punished. Anyhow, just a few people went to get vaccinated here,” said a local from Kan Bauk region, Tenasserim Division.

The village/ward authorities used loudspeakers with a message that urges people to register for their vaccination. However, these efforts have not been very successful. Many people remain skeptical of the military junta, others have underlying health conditions and worry about side effects, and even more people remain unvaccinated as they live in remote areas, with few if any travel options.

A villager close to the Lamine General Administration Department, Ye Township, remarked that his community only learned that elders were on the priority list to receive the vaccine from secondary sources. He added, “Those who are close to the village/ward authorities will know first, but most of the villagers knew nothing about the vaccination program.”

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News