Taking vaccine hesitancy to a whole new level, a 40-year-old man near Villianur in Puducherry climbed up a tree when health workers visited his village to administer Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday. The video of the incident has been trending on social media. As part of the Puducherry government's efforts to achieve 100 per cent Covid-19 vaccination, health workers are going door-to-door to vaccinate people. During one of their visits to Konnerikuppam village, they found that the man in question was yet to be vaccinated and went to his house. Upon seeing them, the man climbed up a tree and refused to come down. The health workers and neighbours urged him to come down, telling him that vaccination is necessary to prevent Covid-19 illness and that many in the village were already vaccinated. However, the man did not budge and allegedly even taunted the health workers, asking them also to climb up the tree to administer the vaccine. With no option left, the health workers eventually left the place. A few weeks ago, an elderly woman at Mettupalayam in Puducherry had chased away a healthcare worker who had gone to vaccinate her, by appearing to be possessed by goddess Mariamman. The video of that incident was also a hit on social media and led to a discussion on what additional measures the government should take to nullify vaccine hesitancy among the public, especially in villages.
