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People who had come for vaccinations had this to say
Why haven’t people taken their vaccines – our photojournalist, Akila Jayawardana walked around the Viharamaha Devi Park to see the vaccination being carried out by the army on Thursday and Friday and ask people why they were late in getting the jabs.
There were no queues but also not many elderly!
The son of an 80-year-old woman who lives in Colombo had said that his mother is unable to walk. They got a mobile vaccination group to give her the 1st dose at her home but numerous calls proved futile when it came to the 2nd dose. So in desperation and with much difficulty, he brought her to the park in a vehicle and she got the injection while in the vehicle.
Vaccination drive at Viharamaha Devi Park: No queues nor many elderly peple were seen
A Christian priest who is 63 years old said that he lives at Torrington but has been very wary of going out of the house to any public place due to the rapidly-spreading virus. That day, he quickly came to the park to get his booster.
She just did not have the time to go to a centre, a 59-year-old domestic worker who lives in Ja-ela but works in Colombo said. All those in the house where she worked had got the booster and she came to get hers that day.
Meanwhile, when younger people were asked why they had waited so long to get vaccinated, a 19-year-old from Hedigalle who was there to get her 1st dose said that she had been scared because there was a lot of kata-katha (stories) that there were issues with the vaccine.
Now, however, she had to take it because she was hoping to follow a nursing course and it was required of her.
A 43-year-old woman from Borella who had come for the booster (3rd dose) said bayata, gaththe ne (I was scared), without elaborating.
After getting infected with COVID-19, a 27-year-old man had not thought there was a need for vaccination but was there that day to get the 1st dose because he may not be able to go to public places without it.
This was while a 21-year-old did not know the importance of getting the vaccine to prevent being severely ill and also protect those in vulnerable groups around her. She realized she needed to get the vaccine as she wants to study in the university library.
With many health officials warning that the tragic repercussions of some people not being vaccinated may be seen quite soon, doctors urged that a strong campaign targeting them should be floated right now.
“We need to be specific and clear about the message – we should not couch the messages in scientific jargon. We need to be absolutely transparent,” stressed many Specialists and healthcare workers, when asked by the Sunday Times. 
They pointed out that at the time that the 1st and 2nd doses were being given, there was much hype. People were facing severe illness and death due to the Delta variant and there was also a scarcity of the 2nd dose. Then people were worried and there was a clamour, but now there is a downward trend in the interest because of lower hospital admissions and lower deaths.
When asked what way the push should come to encourage vaccination, an expert said that with younger people, simple messaging by celebrities such as cricketers helped. With the elderly, there should be respected personalities coming forward to urge them to take the vaccine.
This is because the message from the authorities seems to be lukewarm and the people also seem to have lost confidence in the authorities, another pointed out.
The authorities, meanwhile, were puzzled as to why people were not taking their vaccines.
Many officials told the Sunday Times that they have done everything at ground level to encourage people, still there seems to be a reluctance.
“We have gone to villages, from house-to house and also used various strategies, but the coverage is low,” the officials added.
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