Vaccine hesitancy puts India's gains against virus at risk

India's vaccination efforts are being undermined by widespread hesitancy and fear of the jabs, fueled by misinformation and mistrust

JAMSOTI, India -- In Jamsoti, a village tucked deep inside India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, the common refrain among the villagers is that the coronavirus spreads only in cities. The deadly infection, they believe, does not exist in villages. So when a team of health workers recently approached Manju Kol to get vaccinated, she locked up her house, gathered her children and ran to the nearby forest. The family hid there for hours and returned only when the workers left in the evening. “I would rather die than take the vaccine,” said Kol.