Orda is a tribal village in Odisha. It comes under the Gobara panchayat in the Cuttack district. Because it cannot be plotted on a digital device, the health department sent a vaccination team to administer the COVID vaccine to the villagers.
But the tribals fled to the forests in order to avoid being vaccinated. Local community members are not in favour of the mass vaccination drives so teams are being given the cold shoulder, as per News18.
¡°We have seen in the past that several healthy people when given injections became sick and some have even died. We do not have any faith in injections when most of us are quite healthy and without any disease,¡± said Kundia Hembram, a tribal villager from Orda, while speaking to News18 reporters.?
Most villagers are not exposed to the world outside the village as it is cut off more or less. This makes them more distrustful of outsiders. ?
¡°There are around 30 households in my village but till now not more than 10 persons have taken the vaccine. There are several myths in my community regarding the covid vaccines. They believe that these injections could make them sick; it could be used as a birth control measure and may make them infertile; while some also think that this could be a means to eradicate the tribal communities,¡± said Surath, a local.
It is a hassle for the vaccination teams and it hampers them while trying to do their job. ?