Why in news :- Vaccine hesitancy now down due to second wave of covid-19.
Relevance of syllabus :- challenges of social transformation and social changes in modern society
Functionalist perspective :- good health and effective medical care are essential for the smooth functioning of society. Patients must perform the " sick role " in order to be perceived as legitimately I'll and to be exempt from thier normal obligations.
Conflict perspective :- Social inequality characterizes the quality of health and the quality of health care. People from disadvantaged social backgrounds are more likely to become ill and to receive inadequate health care. Partly to increase their incomes, physicians have tried to control the practice of medicine and to define social problems as medical problems.
Theory of sick role by the talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons in his book " the social system " saw illness as a form of deviant behaviour within Society, the reason being that people who are I'll are unable to fulfill thier normal social roles and are thus deviating away from the consensual norm.
1.If too many people many people claimed to be I'll then this would have dysfunctional impact on society ( disrupt to the social system equilibrium )
2.The physician-patient relationship is hierarchical: the physician provides instructions and the patient needs to follow them
Parsons identified four components to the sick role. How it applied into the pandemic time
1.Excempted from normal social roles :- person exempted from regular responsibilities such as physical presence at work place, outdoor activities and visiting relatives.
2.Patient is not responsible for thier conditions:- they are not responsible for thier isolation: it's an global pandemic
3.Should try to get well :- institution of state provide proper treatment and patient try to get well.
4.Seek technically competence help and co-operate with medical professionals:- Ex: vaccination driva and plasma therapy.
These institutions of state attempt to restore order to the equilibrium of the social system by administering Covid-19 vaccines. Interestingly enough, like Parsons’ description of the physician's role and the role of the “sick person,” the covid-19 infected person must be treated with pharmaceuticals so that he or she can return to carrying out their obligations as a functional member of society.
1.Politicization of vaccination :- beacuse public health is a political matter, available only in selected hospital and clinics. Ex: anti-vaccination movement in USA and UK.
2.Digital divide :- technological barrier- Ex:Co-WIN platform requires technological literacy and issues of network connectivity in rural areas.
3.Role of civil society during vaccination drive :- intensify awareness drives, interpersonal communication and improve the physical access to infrastructure.
4.Relative isolation of tribal communities :- could hamper the vaccination drive beacuse unaware of the importance of vaccination.
5.Structural issues :- poor social infrastructure in the rural areas hamper the vaccination campaign. Ex: logistic problem and expanding population.
6.Rural and urban divide in vaccination coverage :- lack of interest by the private healthcare sector in rural areas.
7.The concept of nation-state :- Vaccine nationalism- how the country manage to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens and residents.
Vaccination as a social Contract :- vaccination is a prosocial act. individuals need to consider social welfare beyond mere self-interest—regardless of ethnic, religious, or national group borders. It has therefore been proposed that vaccination poses a social contract in which individuals are morally obliged to get vaccinated.
Vaccine hesitancy:- it refers delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination service .
Social causes of vaccine hesitancy
1.Religious propaganda :- vaccine may contain microbes, chemicals and animals derived products which is forbidden by religious laws.
2.Social media :- used in stirring fear in people by falsely blaming vaccines for unrelated disease. Ex: recently Facebook has banned anti-vaccine groups.
3.False perception and irrational fears :- about the use of vaccine and belief thay disease is an act of God or supernatural.
4.Parental anxiety on safety and generational difference:- greatest scepticism on safety of vaccines and concern about thier young children.
5.Social influence:- low social pressure either real or perceived and negatives influence of family and friends.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has found that one’s social practices and dispositions, linked in turn to social capital, acceptance in one’s social milieu and consumption patterns, determine their attitude towards vaccination.
vaccine questioning/rejection could be a form of symbolic capital within particular social groups. These practices are created and promoted by an internal elite within the social group, who have the power to define non-vaccination as desirable—a form of distinction.
