Lucknow, Jun 2 (IANS): The administrations of all 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh have been asked to involve the newly elected village pradhans to convince the rural population about the importance of vaccination and help them overcome the vaccine hesitancy.

The village pradhans are also being asked to dispel misinformation about the vaccine among people.

Vaccine hesitancy in villages is emerging as a major challenge for the state government and many departments have been mobilised to accelerate the vaccination campaign, particularly in villages.

The vaccination in rural areas remains extremely sluggish, said health department officials, adding that people are refusing to get vaccinated.

In Barabanki, a group of people even jumped into a river when they saw a vaccination team approaching.

A senior health official said, "We are asking the health officials and district magistrates in district to take the help of village pradhans and convince people to take the vaccine. We want the vaccination drive to cover maximum population before the third wave sets in."

The administration is also asking people who have taken the first dose of the vaccine to persuade others to get vaccinated.

People in the village are wary of getting vaccinated because they believe that immunity becomes zero for 10 days after the vaccine and this period makes them vulnerable to catching Covid. They are also afraid of getting fever after the vaccine.