Kabul residents less interested in receiving COVID-19 doses, say vaccination teams

Pajhwok Afghan News visited a number of vaccination teams in mosques but the teams complained about low interest among people for getting the vaccine.

This comes as the COVID-19 vaccine is about to expire and the Ministry of Public Health is asking people to get the shots.

Zarmina, a vaccinator who was administering COVID-19 vaccine in Jabir Mosque in Khair Khana area of Kabul, said, "We come to this mosque since last three days, but we vaccinated less than 70 people during the period, the population is high and we thought that we would not be able to manage the process, but very little people come here."

She said that mobile vaccination teams were on job from 9 am to 3 pm every day.

Nijat Ayar, another vaccinator in SafidKhwaja Mosque, in the 15th police district of Kabul city also complained about a fewer number of people interested in taking the doses.

She said that in the past three days, around 100 people, including men and women, visited the mosque for vaccination, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

"When COVID-19 vaccine arrived for the first time, there were so many people in the vaccination centers, so many people were getting the vaccine and we had no time to eat, but now all of us are waiting for people from morning to afternoon," she said.

She called on citizens to get the vaccine and protect themselves and their families against deadly diseases.

Abdul Wasay Saeed, imam of Idris Mosque in Kulula Pushta area of Kabul, told Pajhwok that mobile vaccination teams twice visited the mosque and called on people to get the doses in the last one month.

He said that a number of men and women had received the vaccine, but considering the population of the region, many of them ignored it due to various reasons.

There is no problem in getting the vaccine from the Islamic point of view and there are no legal issues as well, so people should get vaccinated for the safety of their lives and their families, he said.

Pajhwok talked with a number of people about the reason why they refuse to get vaccinated.

Matiulla Azimi, head of Chahardehi Center in Kabul, who also is unvaccinated, said, "Corona has finished, it was a project and gone, why we should get into trouble by taking the vaccine, those who got it are struggling with fever and body pain."

Ahmad Wali, a Kabul resident who owns a booth shop, told Pajhwok that he had not received the vaccine yet. "Death comes from God. If there is the order of death for someone, the corona vaccine will not be able to prevent it, and that is why I did not and will not get the vaccine," he said.

Zakirullah, another shopkeeper in the Kampani area of Kabul city, said, "I did not receive the vaccine because corona can do nothing if God does not want it."

Karima Noori, a resident of the Khair Khana area, said, "They are mad, where is the corona, there is nothing like corona, not even a single member of our family is infected with it, we do not believe in it." She termed COVID-19 a project and said false figures were published for the attraction of aid.

Four months ago, the Ministry of Public Health had said that Afghanistan needed 42 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, of which 500,000 doses of Indian vaccine, 468,000 doses of COVAX and 700,000 of China vaccine had been so far assisted.

The United States also promised to provide three million doses of the Johnson vaccine to the Afghan people after the spread of the Delta variant of the virus in Afghanistan. The US later provided 1.5 million doses of the vaccine on July 9.

At the time, Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 37 million, received more than a million vaccines five months ago.

According to official figures from the Ministry of Public Health, more than 156,000 people are infected by coronavirus disease and 7,280 others have died since the outbreak of the pandemic in Afghanistan, reported Pajhwok. (ANI)