Now the myths around COVID-19 vaccines hits SIMI operatives

New Delhi, June 15: The administration of the Bhopal Central Jail are having a hard time convincing operatives of the Students Islamic Movement of India to take the vaccine against COVID-19.

Most of them have cited either religious reasons or some myth about the safety of the vaccines and hence are avoiding taking them. 23 operatives of the SIMI have refused to take the vaccine. However five of them have taken the shot at the Bhopal jail.

The deputy superintendent of the jail, Priyadarshan Srivastava while being quoted by The New Indian Express said that Safdar Nagori, Amaan, Aamir Parvez, Hafiz and Ahmed Beg have taken the vaccine like the other inmates. However 23 other SIMI operatives have not ready to take the vaccine, he also said.

The myths around the vaccines have been spread by some groups. The fears of the Muslim community have been reported several times in the past couple of months. The first fear is that the vaccine's ingredients make the vaccine haram. The fears were furthered after some ulema, led by Mumbai's clerics Saeed Noorie of the Raza Academy and Moin Miya declared in December that the Chinese vaccines is said to contain gelatin derived from pigs. However Noorie later on said that the vaccines manufactured in India were halal.

On Monday, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the Muslim community in the country is avoiding COVID-19 vaccines duet to apprehensions and misconceptions.I am deliberately taking the name. The Muslim community in our country is keeping away from the vaccination. They are still hesitant, have apprehensions and misconceptions, he told reporters.

If you don't take the vaccine, the disease won't stop and anybody can fall prey to it and become a super-spreader he said while appealing to all to take the vaccine.

Many Muslim scholars and organisations have come forward to bust these myths. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Gujarat resolved to conduct camps across the state to encourage the community to get vaccinated. 60 clerics decided to actively take part in the drive to promote vaccination among the Muslims which has been hesitant due to mistrust. Public announcements in Mosques too have been made to take the vaccination, but a large number remain hesitant.