In MP, police and panchayats try out unique ways to promote vaccination

As the vaccination drive gathers pace across the country, Madhya Pradesh police have thought of a unique way of “felicitating” those who took the COVID vaccine shot, while cautioning those who have not taken the jab yet.

News agency ANI shared a video of Niwari district police pinning a badge that says: “I’m a patriot as I’m vaccinated” on commuters who have taken the COVID-19 vaccine.

The cop pinning the badge is heard saying, “This is our way of encouraging people to get vaccinated at the earliest. Those who have not taken the shot yet should do so without fail.” The policeman told the commuter: “Tell everybody that I have got vaccinated, which is why I have been honoured by the police of Madhya Pradesh.”

Those who haven’t been innoculated were made to wear a poster which says, “Stay away from me as I am not vaccinated yet.”

The video was shared widely on social media all through the day. Some users appreciated the police effort while others questioned the availability of enough vaccine shots.

Take the shot or face boycott, Bhopal panchayats pass resolution

Meanwhile thirteen villages under four panchayats of capital Bhopal, the worst affected city in Madhya Pradesh, have passed a resolution stating that the entire village will cut off ties with any person who refuses to get vaccinated. They will not be invited for any social function nor will anyone visit them for any reason. The total population of these 13 villages is about 17,000. Of them, 5,000 people have taken the jabs so far.

The panchayats felt it necessary to pass such a resolution because there were rumours floating in these villages that the vaccine causes death or affects fertility. One of the sarpanchs, Lal Singh Meena, told Dainik Bhaskar that people were closing doors on seeing the vaccination teams approaching their homes.

COVID situation improving in state

As per statistics released by the state government, Madhya Pradesh recorded a little over 500 COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths on Tuesday (June 8). The state’s total tally stands at 7,86,302 and the death toll to 8,405.

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Indore and Bhopal remain the worst affected districts. Indore reported 179 cases, taking the total case count so far to 1,51,951, while that of Bhopal rose by 124 to touch 1,22,206. The active cases in Indore and Bhopal are 1,206 and 1,985 respectively.

Six of the 52 MP districts had no cases reported in the last 24 hours.