Helping to lead a mass trial for a Chinese-made
Covid-19 vaccine in Pakistan; a country where anti vaccine sentiment can turn
lethal and conspiracy theories are endemic; Dr. Mohsin Ali has heard all kind
of questions from anxious, prospective volunteers. "Is this going to take
away my reproductive ability? Is this going to kill me? Is there any 5G chip in
this? And, is there a conspiracy to control people en masse?’ he said;
recounting the sometimes bizarre doubts clouding people's minds. “I get many
questions like this;’ he told at Islamabad's Shifa International Hospital;
before adding: ‘I try to answer them with logic and on the level of the
individual asking them. Some still refuse.’ The hospital is one of a number in
Pakistan where phase III trials are underway for Chinese vaccine developer
CanSino Biologics' Ad5-nCoV candidate. The government last week announced it
had begun the vaccine procurement process; though it has not said whether it
will purchase CanSino's candidate or an alternative.
Worryingly;
a Gallup Pakistan poll conducted last month showed 37 per cent of Pakistanis
would not get a vaccine once one became available. ‘Given the history of
vaccine resistance; this is an alarming number and not just for Pakistan but
also for the world, which depends on universal vaccine coverage to control
spread;’ Bilal Gilani; the pollster's executive director; said. Countering
anti-vaccine sentiments is a worldwide problem; but in Pakistan it is more
dangerous than almost anywhere else. Dozens of people have been killed in
attacks on polio vaccination teams over the years; and the fear and mistrust
that spawns such violence has made Pakistan one of two countries; including
neighboring Afghanistan; where the crippling disease has still to be
eradicated. Several times every year, polio vaccination drives aim to inoculate
millions of children; but in some areas they are often met with refusals from
parents who believe conspiracy theories about the vaccine. In more volatile
parts of the country, Islamist militancy played a role in attacks on polio
immunization teams; notably after a doctor was accused of running a fake vaccination
campaign to help the US Central Intelligence Agency track down Osama bin Laden
in Pakistan in 2011.
Disbelief
Yet
the dangers of polio have been well known for decades; whereas Covid-19 is a
new disease, and authorities have struggled to communicate the urgent need to
stamp it out. ‘Many people still don't believe it is a real disease;’ said
Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi; an assistant professor at Al-Jawf University; in
Sakakah; Saudi Arabia; who studies vaccine effectiveness in Pakistan. A
national lockdown was quickly abandoned a few weeks into the virus' spread as
too many of Pakistan's more than 207 million people were economically
vulnerable; and social distancing remained difficult as the public continued to
gather in markets and mosques. Infection numbers have continued their morbid
ascent with 2,885 new cases and 89 deaths reported on Monday - taking the total
infections to over 423,000 and fatalities close to 8,500. Experts say Pakistan
is only doing a fraction of the testing it should be doing. Cleric Qibla Ayaz;
the head of the Council of Islamic Ideology, which advises the government on
social and legal issues; said many of the conspiracy theories about Covid-19
are coming from Western countries, spread by social media. ‘For now; the majority
of scholars have said the vaccine and other treatments are important [...] but
there are always extremists as there are with polio;’ Ayaz told. ‘Given the
kind of “Westphobia” we have in Pakistan; it might be better to obtain a
vaccine from Russia or China; instead of the US or UK.’
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