Vaccinations: Silver Linings, But Serious Challenges Ahead

Nobody is safe, till everybody is safe, writes Rajendra Aneja

In the midst of the enormous human suffering due to the pandemic, there are also instances of human initiatives and institutional cooperation, that need applause. They inspire faith.

Many private sector companies are forging with local municipalities to vaccinate their employees in the offices in India and the UAE. Some of them are also vaccinating the families of employees and associates like the suppliers, distributors, etc. This accelerates the vaccination process and also reduces the crowds at the hospitals. A multinational provided 4,000 oxygen concentrators to district administrations, when oxygen was in acute short supply. The company also gifted e-rickshaw vehicles to widows, to help them to make a living. Private hospitals are allotting time slots to corporations, during which their employees and families take the jabs.

Citizen groups in apartment buildings in Mumbai city, are procuring doses to vaccinate all the residents, maids, drivers and even the slum dwellers in their vicinity. They visit homes to register the names and ages of potential recipients of the vaccines.

Health workers in the mountainous Jammu & Kashmir state, took the initiative to vaccinate villagers in remote areas in their homes. In Bandipora and Ramban districts, health workers visited inaccessible villages, scattered in hilly areas. These villages have no access to internet. Health workers crossed rivers on foot in the remote districts. They carried cold boxes with vaccines. Due to this dedication, a few districts have inoculated 100 percent of their adults.

The Sikh community in Delhi city rendered yeoman’s service, by opening oxygen clinics, when there was a frantic shortage of oxygen in the city. Any person could go to the oxygen clinic and receive oxygen free. This saved many lives. Another person in Mumbai city needed an oxygen concentrator urgently. After he appealed, a person in Delhi city couriered it to him. It arrived in just 24 hours.

Prestigious clubs in many cities are tying up with local hospitals, to vaccinate their members and families. Parents of children, who travelled by school buses, collected moneys to disburse to drivers, who were unemployed, due to the closure of schools.

Many voluntary organisations and NGOs have started free kitchens to feed the poor, who have lost jobs. Bengaluru city has even provided a budget to feed hungry stray dogs. The pandemic has pushed 230 million people into unemployment and poverty in India in 2020.

These laudable initiatives do get stifled at times, due to lack of adequate vaccines in India. About 240 million doses have been disbursed. Thus, 17.6 percent of the population has received a jab; however only 3.4 percent has received both the jabs. India is desperately short of vaccines. The Government has announced that all Indians will be vaccinated by end 2021. However, at best, India will be able to vaccinate 50-60 percent of its population by the end of 2021.

The challenges in the vaccination programme will multiply manifold, as the drive travels to the villages. There will be logistical challenges in reaching the 6,64,369 villages across the country. These problems are surmountable with vaccinating vans, motor-cycles and bicycle brigades. However, the real issue is that many villagers are sceptic about the vaccines. They believe that the vaccines can create serious side-effects, etc. Health officials visited Sisauda village in Barabanki district, UP state. The villagers did not want to get vaccinated, fearing that the vaccines were poisonous. They fled from the village and jumped into the nearby Saryu river. Of the 1,500 residents in the village, only 20 could be vaccinated. Managing prejudices about the vaccines, will require communicating in the local dialects.

A serious challenge in the vaccination drive will be to inoculate the tribal communities. About 8.2 percent of India’s population comprises of tribals, who live in the hinterland. They number about 111 million and are scattered in 212 tribes, according to theAnthropological Survey. Many of the tribals are nomadic, tending to herds of goats, cows, etc. These tribal groups have to be identified and vaccinated. They will need persuasion and will have to be vaccinated in their camps.

The tribals often live below the poverty line of USD two per day, lack access to health, child and maternal care and even sanitation. Some of them are desperately poor. They do not own smart phones or tablets. So, one can forget internet, connectivity and registration on any apps. Many of them may not even have the Aadhar cards (National Identity Cards). India should start deploying the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires just one jab. This one-jab vaccine should be used to vaccinate nomadic groups, which may be difficult to track for the second jab. In village Lidderwat, 100 kilometres from Srinagar in J&K, medical team trekked for over six hours on foot and ponies, to vaccinate nomadic shepherd tribes. They also carried oxygen cylinders, through this mountainous region.

There are 400,000 beggars in India, according to the Social Justice Ministry. Most of the beggars sleep on the streets or in temporary shelters. Local governments will have to organise to vaccinate them also, with a single-jab vaccine.

There are various NGOs like the missionaries of Charity of Mother Theresa, in many towns like Kolkata, Chandigarh and Mumbai. These charities provide accommodation, food and medicines to the old, infirm, orphans and the abandoned. The inmates of these institutions should be vaccinated through government agencies undertaking the inoculation at their centres. These humanitarian institutions should not be required to pay for the jabs.

These instances of human beings helping each other in distress, are laudable. At a time, when governments and institutions are under severe pressure due to the pandemic, ordinary citizens are picking up the gauntlet to fight, each in his own way.
The G7 developed countries should donate their surplus vaccines to nations in Africa and Asia. President Biden’s announcement to buy 500 million doses for distribution to needy countries is welcome. Africa has inoculated only about two percent of the 1.3 billion people. Covid-19 is a miserable disease. Nobody is safe, till everybody is safe.
––Rajendra Aneja was the Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the author of books entitled, “Rural Marketing across Countries and “Business Express”. He is a Management Consultant.

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The G7 developed countries should donate their surplus vaccines to nations in Africa and Asia. President Biden’s announcement to buy 500 million doses for distribution to needy countries is welcome. Africa has inoculated only about two percent of the 1.3 billion people. Covid-19 is a miserable disease. Nobody is safe, till everybody is safe