SHILLONG: Religious and faith-based leaders across Meghalaya have agreed to play a key role in battling vaccine hesitancy and check the spread of misinformation against the Covid-19 pandemic.
This has come in the aftermath of an interactive zoom session that was held on July 8, convened by the office of the principal secretary, health and family welfare department, which was attended by over 150 leaders of various religious organizations from across the state.
“Religious leaders and faith-based communities have been playing an important role in sensitizing masses about the virus and the importance and rationale behind Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. And now, as intensive vaccination drives continue, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, among other factors, have emerged as huge deterrents to preventative care against Covid-19. With an aim to tackle this, the state administration organized one-to-one online interactive session with the religious and faith-based leaders,” an official statement said.
The session, convened by principal health secretary, Sampath Kumar in the presence of deputy commissioners from several districts and other officials from DHS, NHM-Meghalaya and WHO, also saw participation from prominent community leaders. “70% of faith-based leaders said that they were already taking actions while 30% responded that they were willing to take actions but just did not know how to systematically go about it. A harmony of faith, science and tradition is crucial to battle the pandemic,” said Naba, president of the Central Puja Committee, Meghalaya.
“It is also crucial to counter false information that has been circulating on social media. People should realize that getting vaccinated is the only solution available to prevent ourselves and our loved ones from getting infected with the virus,” he underscored.
“In many hard-to-reach areas of Meghalaya, where people still do not use smartphones and internet, religious places and congregations can act as crucial platforms for information dissemination and addressing concern and queries related to vaccine as well as Covid-19,” remarked Bishop Jose from Tura.
“In rural areas, people are often seen to be psychologically and emotionally affected due to closure of Church services, as these give solace and guidance to them, especially during hard times”, stated Reverent HCT Sumer from Jowai.
