Stories from the Field: Situation Update on Vaccination
By Chitra, Priyansha and the IMN team
The Prime Minister on last Monday announced that starting June 21, 2021 the Indian government will revert to centralised procurement of vaccines, in addition to free vaccination to the age group between 18–44 years. Earlier, the onus of both procurement and administration for vaccines fell on the state. Now, the state governments will only be responsible for administering the vaccines — which comes with its own difficulties, especially for migrant workers.
For instance, slot booking option on the Co-Win portal for Uttar Pradesh shows that for certain pincodes, vaccination is restricted to “state residents” or “Uttar Pradesh citizens”, without specifying what either of the terms exactly entail. While there is little evidence that the practice is being followed on the ground, yet the existence of such specifications leaves a possibility for exclusion of migrant workers.
The Co-Win dashboard shows that Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal have the highest vaccination coverage.
Out of these states, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the top 5 interstate migrant-receiving states, according to the Census 2011. Delhi and Haryana on the other hand, show lower vaccination coverage. Major migrant source states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan also show higher vaccination coverage.
Chalo Network has been operating in two districts of Madhya Pradesh — Shivpuri and Tikamgarh — with a pan-district coverage in the former and block-level coverage for the latter. Chalo agents have been motivating people to get vaccinated by fighting misinformation on vaccinations, but it does not make the task any less challenging.
“People between 18–44 years are young — they understand the importance of vaccination… they can still be convinced. This is why it is not difficult for us to get them registered and vaccinated. It is people who are above 45 years, who are difficult to talk to about vaccination. Some have already made up their mind to not get vaccinated, and it is very difficult to convince them otherwise,” says one of our agents in Khaniyadhana block of Shivpuri district.
“By 11AM in the morning, all the slots for 18–44 years are booked, while the slots for people 45 or above remain empty or partially filled,” adds Chalo agent from Kolaras block in Shivpuri district, partially corroborating that vaccination is difficult to advocate among a certain age group.
But to our agents, the different attitudes of young and old towards vaccination is not the only problem.
“We go door-to-door with ASHA and Anganwadi workers to convince people to get vaccinated, but people are afraid. They think we are speaking on government’s behalf and hence do not trust us, even before we could tell them what we are advocating for. They give us anecdotes of how an acquaintance got fever after getting vaccinated, and it scares people to not get vaccinated.
“People get sick for a day after getting vaccinated, and it is definitely scary for them. Nobody tells them that a fever is normal after getting a shot, and it will go away in a day or two,” our agent continues.
Madkhera village in Tikamgarh Block seems to have a solution to the hindrance, at least at the Panchayat level.
Vaccination camps are present beside ration camps at the local panchayat ghar. People who come to collect ration or for any ration card-related enquiry, are also directed to register themselves and get vaccinated if slots are available. The ration distribution exercise becomes a site of mobilisation, advocacy, and fighting misinformation. “There are people who get vaccinated when they come to collect their ration. This way the authorities can also show people that there are no severe side effects of vaccination by having them interact with those who have recently gotten vaccinated,” says our Tikamgarh agent.
Agents argue that even when people have been vaccinated, they do not know about praman patr (vaccination certificate). People who have a smartphone have to be taught how to download the certificate, and we (Chalo Network) provide printouts for those who do not have a smartphone.
Employers and industry at destination have a crucial role to play in helping workers get vaccinated. Recently, in order to promote vaccination among migrant workers, the Delhi Metro Rail Cooperation (DMRC) organised street plays in local dialects from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to better communicate the benefits of vaccination among workers.
Localisation of language has played a huge role in covering communication gaps, and is especially crucial in destination where migrants often find themselves alienated from their milieu. DMRC’s initiative shows that employers can help create an environment to counter misinformation and motivate their workers to get vaccinated.
SPECIAL VACCINATION DRIVES IN DELHI
Delhi government has begun with special drives for vaccinations for people who are going abroad for education and work, prioritising migrants going abroad.
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