Villagers in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki jump into river to escape 'poisonous' COVID-19 vaccine

Barabanki: In an extreme example of vaccine hesitancy, a group of people in Barabanki’s Sisaurha village jumped into the Saryu river after seeing a team of health officials coming to inoculate them against coronavirus.Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Ramnagar tehsil Rajiv Kumar Shukla said the incident took place on Saturday.Shukla said he made the villagers understand the importance and benefits of vaccination, and tried to dispel the myths, following which 18 people in the village got the jabs.The villagers said they jumped into the river because some people had told them that this was not a vaccine, but a poisonous injection.