Posted on Feb 21, 2022
Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/17/ [login to see] /iraq-has-enough-doses-of-covid-vaccine-for-everyone-but-many-iraqis-dont-trust-i
At a crowded market in Sadr City, a working-class neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, 42-year-old vendor Jasim Khudhaier stands behind a pile of shoes, sneakers and sandals.
Like most of the vendors, he's not wearing a mask – but shares that he has been deeply affected by COVID. He lost two sisters to the disease in the first wave of the pandemic. He was sick with it himself for a month early in 2021.
Yet Khudhaier refuses to get vaccinated.
"I don't trust this vaccine because some people say it can cause bad side effects," Khudhaier says. "I know many people who have taken the vaccine. But I don't have faith in it."
Only about 17% of Iraqis are fully vaccinated against COVID even though the country has enough vaccine doses for anyone who wants them. The vaccination rate is far below the global average of 54% and a far cry from the World Health Organization's goal of getting at least 70% of residents of every country fully vaccinated by the end of June. Iraqi government health workers are now trying to build confidence around the vaccine and get more people vaccinated.
At a crowded market in Sadr City, a working-class neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, 42-year-old vendor Jasim Khudhaier stands behind a pile of shoes, sneakers and sandals.
Like most of the vendors, he's not wearing a mask – but shares that he has been deeply affected by COVID. He lost two sisters to the disease in the first wave of the pandemic. He was sick with it himself for a month early in 2021.
Yet Khudhaier refuses to get vaccinated.
"I don't trust this vaccine because some people say it can cause bad side effects," Khudhaier says. "I know many people who have taken the vaccine. But I don't have faith in it."
Only about 17% of Iraqis are fully vaccinated against COVID even though the country has enough vaccine doses for anyone who wants them. The vaccination rate is far below the global average of 54% and a far cry from the World Health Organization's goal of getting at least 70% of residents of every country fully vaccinated by the end of June. Iraqi government health workers are now trying to build confidence around the vaccine and get more people vaccinated.
Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it
Posted from npr.org
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Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 Tony Holland
..."A lack of trust
Khudhaier, a father of four, says his biggest fear about the vaccine is that it makes you infertile. "It can cause damage," he says, waving his hand over his groin. "I'm talking with you seriously."
In all the scientific studies of the approved COVID vaccines, some rare side effects have been found — but infertility is not one of them. Yet the false notion is widespread in Iraq, hampering efforts by public health officials and doctors.
Dr. Haider Salman, a physician who works for the Iraqi Ministry of Health in the southern city of Basra, says part of the problem in rolling out a new vaccine is that Iraqis are reflexively skeptical of any program from the government.
"We don't have any trust even in our leading persons or in our system or in our governing rule," he says.
Iraq has three brands of COVID vaccine available: AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech.
Some Iraqis, Salman says, don't trust the Pfizer shot because it's from the U.S. Others refuse to take Sinopharm because it's from China. Others don't want any of them simply because it's the Iraqi government urging them to get immunized."...
..."A lack of trust
Khudhaier, a father of four, says his biggest fear about the vaccine is that it makes you infertile. "It can cause damage," he says, waving his hand over his groin. "I'm talking with you seriously."
In all the scientific studies of the approved COVID vaccines, some rare side effects have been found — but infertility is not one of them. Yet the false notion is widespread in Iraq, hampering efforts by public health officials and doctors.
Dr. Haider Salman, a physician who works for the Iraqi Ministry of Health in the southern city of Basra, says part of the problem in rolling out a new vaccine is that Iraqis are reflexively skeptical of any program from the government.
"We don't have any trust even in our leading persons or in our system or in our governing rule," he says.
Iraq has three brands of COVID vaccine available: AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech.
Some Iraqis, Salman says, don't trust the Pfizer shot because it's from the U.S. Others refuse to take Sinopharm because it's from China. Others don't want any of them simply because it's the Iraqi government urging them to get immunized."...
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