Puducherry: A middle-aged man in Puducherry’s Vilianur climbed on a tree to avoid the administration COVID-19 vaccine when health workers visited his village on Tuesday. The video of the hilarious incident has gone viral on social media and has sparked a debate on vaccine hesitancy still prevalent in society. - Vaccine Hesitancy Greatest Threat In Overcoming Covid Pandemic, Says SII's Adar Poonawalla

In the video, the man can be seen sitting atop a tree near his home while the primary healthcare workers urge him to come down and take the jab. “I will not take the vaccine, you can’t get me,” he could be head saying.   - Shed Vaccine Hesitancy, Get Inoculated Soon, PM Modi Urges People in Mann ki Baat Address | Highlights

As part of the Puducherry government’s efforts to achieve 100 per cent Covid-19 vaccination, primary healthcare workers are visiting people’s home to vaccinate everyone who missed getting jabbed in the previous vaccination drives. - Developing COVID-19 Vaccine Has Been Accelerated, Says WHO Chief

During the visit to Konnerikuppam village, primary healthcare workers found that the man in question was yet to be inoculated and went to his house. Upon seeing them, the man n from his home and climbed a tree nearby, refusing to come down, reported Indian Express.



The onlookers urged him to come down, while trying to educate him about the importance of vaccination in preventing the spread of Covid-19 virus. However, the man did not budge. With no option left, the health workers reportedly left the place eventually.

This is not the first case of vaccine hesitancy. A few weeks ago, another video of an elderly woman at Mettupalayam in Puducherry went viral on social media, where she was seen chasing away a healthcare worker who had gone to vaccinate her, by appearing to be possessed by goddess Mariamman.



The vaccine hesitancy is still being reported from many rural hinterlands of the country, where there is a lack of a strong medical infrastructure. Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy has long been recognised as a problem in high- and middle-income nations.  A major concern is safety, especially because the vaccines were developed and delivered rapidly and the recommendations for their use have often changed, researchers said. Misinformation coupled with lack of trust in governments have also played a role in hesitancy.