Vaccine awareness needs to go far beyond people like us
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Radha Khan
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A news item in the
The Indian Express caught my eye last week. It reported that in Gurugram, Haryana (where I live), the local district authorities are worried by an uptick in the number of covid cases and are planning to intensify and ramp up the government’s ongoing vaccination drive. The aim, according to the report, is to increase the number of hospitals administering covid vaccines.
However, a closer look at this ‘ramping up’ shows just how skewed the approach is: five hospitals have been selected to run 24-hour vaccination clinics, only one of which is a public facility. The other four are exclusive and expensive private hospitals. I would imagine that the poor, even if they wish to pay the ₹250 fee for a shot, will not easily be granted entry to these spaces. Another report, this one by Payel Majumdar Upreti in
Sunil Gavaskar, Madhuri Mishra and lessons in influence
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He stuffed hand towels in the front pockets of his trousers to make them work like thigh guards and she, far away from him, walked nearly eight kilometres a day to accomplish her mission. He created a path, she knocked on doors. He flew from country to country; she went from village to village. He retired years ago; she retired from service last week. Both unique in their pursuit but both built bridges that we’re all walking on today. The two, unknown to each other, have influenced our lives in the largest possible way in cricket and in vaccines
One of the most successful public health interventions in contemporary human history, vaccinations have aided the world in eradicating multiple diseases and brought many others to the brink of elimination. It saves 2 to 3 million lives each year from diseases such as tetanus, influenza, measles and diphtheria. Not only are vaccines critical for preventing infectious diseases, but also for controlling the severity and spread of such diseases.
The pandemics of the past have taught us the rarity of a vaccine to be developed in less than five years. Nevertheless, in 2020, the world found itself in a race against time to develop and deliver vaccination against the novel coronavirus. The targeted timeline for creating a vaccine for COVID-19 was pegged at 12 to 18 months. However, within one year of beginning research, more than half a dozen vaccines have been approved, and several are near approval for emergency mass use.
The government also brought private hospitals, which are empanelled under various central and state government health schemes, into the vaccination programme. Those eligible would pay up to
Rs 250 per dose to get vaccinated at these private hospitals or get vaccinated at a government facility free of charge.
Until March 1, Covid-19 vaccinations were only open to healthcare and other frontline workers. Photo credit: Amit Dave/ Reuters
Along with this scaling up of Covid-19 vaccination infrastructure come concerns about how well
adverse events following immunisation are being tracked, reported, recorded and investigated by the government, experts told
IndiaSpend. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s daily updates on the vaccination effort, however, have provided no information on adverse events following immunisations since February 26.
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This January, soon after the central government began its Covid-19 vaccination programme, a 37-year-old anganwadi worker in Andhra Pradesh received her first shot of a two-dose vaccine. A few days later, she developed a skin allergy and bleeding in her gums, and her platelet count dropped, according to her cousin Ankaiah Pallala.
This January, soon after the central government began its Covid-19 vaccination programme, a 37-year-old anganwadi worker in Andhra Pradesh received her first shot of a two-dose vaccine. A few days later, she developed a skin allergy and bleeding in her gums, and her platelet count dropped, according to her cousin Ankaiah Pallala.