An American website: Many Iraqis do not trust Corona vaccines

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[size=52]An American website: Many Iraqis do not trust Corona vaccines[/size]

[size=45]Translation / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]At a busy market in Sadr City, 42-year-old Jassem Khudair stands in front of his small booth selling shoes and sandals, without a protective mask, as is the case with many other shop owners and shoppers in the market, and says that he has been affected a lot by being infected with the Corona virus for a month during last year. He had lost two of his sisters during the first wave of the epidemic, yet he refuses to receive a vaccine.[/size]
[size=45]"I don't trust this vaccine because some say it has bad side effects," Khudair told NPR. I know many people who have taken the vaccine. But I don't trust him."[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that only 17% of Iraqis have received a complete vaccine against the Corona virus, although the country has enough vaccine doses for anyone who wants to be vaccinated. Nevertheless, the American website indicates that the vaccination rates in Iraq are much lower than the global rates, which stand at 54% of the population, and far from the World Health Organization's goal of reaching 70% of the population of each country by the end of June. Iraqi health officials are now trying to build confidence around the vaccine and encourage more people to receive the vaccine.[/size]
[size=45]loss of confidence[/size]
[size=45]Khudair, a father of four, says his biggest fear from the vaccine is that it could render a person sterile. "It could cause great harm," he says. I am speaking to you very seriously.”[/size]
[size=45]During all international studies on approved corona vaccines, rare side effects may occur, but sterility is not among them. Despite this, these false rumors are widespread in Iraq, which hinders and impedes the efforts of public health officials and doctors to advocate for the vaccination.[/size]
[size=45]Haider Salman, a doctor working in the Basra Health Department, says that one of the reasons for the problem of staying away from receiving the vaccine is that Iraqis in general are suspicious of any program issued by the government.[/size]
[size=45]Salman says, "The Iraqis have no confidence in anyone responsible in the regime or in the government." Noting that Iraq has three types of vaccine available against Corona, which are AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Pfizer.[/size]
[size=45]Salman says that some Iraqis do not trust the Pfizer vaccine because it is from the United States. And others refuse to receive the Sinopharma vaccine because it is from China. While others refuse any kind of vaccine simply because the government requires them and urges them to receive the vaccine.[/size]
[size=45]Trying to make vaccination easy[/size]
[size=45]Although the country launched its campaign to vaccinate against Corona disease about a year ago, Iraq, according to the World Health Organization, is still ranked 183 in the world in the percentage of its citizens receiving a full dose of the vaccine. It is reported that 1 out of every 5 Iraqis received two doses of the vaccine, while the neighboring country Iran, 65% of its citizens, received two doses of the vaccine.[/size]
[size=45]In October, Iraq embarked on an extensive effort to immunize more people by vaccinating them in places outside health institutions, and these places included schools, mosques and other crowded areas.[/size]
[size=45]At the Zayouna shopping center, east of Baghdad, a team of four health workers set up a mobile clinic to deliver vaccines. Where they set up a table in front of one of the clothes shops in the complex, and there is a blue curtain behind the vaccination kit, so that every visitor can receive the vaccination easily.[/size]
[size=45]Munira Mezher, a nurse whose duty is to talk to people and answer their questions in an attempt to persuade them to get vaccinated. She says she and her colleagues started the effort at the mall since October last year.[/size]
[size=45]"Some of the people find it difficult to come to health clinics during the day because of their preoccupation with their jobs, as well as the heavy traffic on the roads of the capital, Baghdad," said Mezher. That is why we have opened these medical units in shopping centers and other public places so that people can receive the vaccine.”[/size]
[size=45]The power of persuasion[/size]
[size=45]Dr. Mezher points out that convincing people is not an easy thing and that it requires us to dispel rumors about the side effects of vaccines on the body.[/size]
[size=45]"Our role is to educate people," she said. We tell them that the World Health Organization provides vaccines not to harm you, but to protect you and stop the spread and spread of disease.”[/size]
[size=45]Some Iraqis refuse to receive the second dose because they developed flu symptoms after the first dose. As for those who work for a daily wage, they cannot lose a day's work. Mezher says that she is trying to convince them that any side effects that appear due to the vaccine are in any case not as bad as the disease itself.[/size]
[size=45]Mezher says, "Some of the people tell me that the government, which cannot provide me with electricity and other basic services, how can I trust that it will provide me with a safe vaccine?"[/size]
[size=45]Every day, her team vaccinates about 50 people, and on some holidays, when the shopping center is crowded, more people get a dose of the vaccine. She says that the Iraqis are gradually starting to receive the vaccine in larger and larger numbers, and that the persuasion process is beginning to bear fruit.[/size]
[size=45]About NPR[/size]
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