Community Engagement is Essential to Promote Vaccination

Awareness is the key to defeat COVID-19

New Delhi [India], June 29: As India is recording daily huge drops in the number of active cases; the fear of the third wave is still inevitable. It is a noble idea to get the whole country vaccinated as soon as possible and secure the whole nation against unprecedented circumstances.

Following a surge in infections that killed hundreds of thousands, NGO groups are spreading the word about receiving COVID-19 shots to India’s poor and old, and transporting some to vaccination centers in rickshaws and cabs.

The Gunjan Foundation, which provides free education and humanitarian work to underprivileged and orphaned children, has concentrated its efforts on poorer neighborhoods, where many people lack even basic knowledge about immunizations, according to the organization.

“We found out that a whole lot of people above 60 weren’t even aware that they could vaccinate and protect themselves. To promote awareness we have been sharing links related to vaccination drive through our social media so they know how and where to get vaccinated,” Founder and MD, Gunjan Foundation, Sushma Singhvi said.

“The Central government has begun the free vaccination for all campaign for every Indian and I believe the biggest beneficiary of this phase of India’s vaccination drive shall be the poor, the middle class, and the youth of the country. I request every citizen of India to get vaccinated. Together we will defeat Covid-19. We have been counselling parents of the children of our school to get the vaccination; we are in talks with the local RWA and plan to let them use our school premises as a Vaccination Centre. We have ensured that our personal and official staff faces no difficulty in getting their jabs,” she added further.

Moreover, prominent celebrities and influencers in the entertainment and sports industries, including singers and athletes, have already received their first corona vaccination shots. Sawan Karan Giri, a singer from Bihar, received his first dose of the vaccine and shared photos from the vaccination centre with his admirers, urging them to be vaccinated as well. Despite the fact that his account was hacked and he had to deal with the consequences, he believes that all public figures may use social media to steer their particular communities in the path towards vaccination. Karan has millions of fans on social media, and he is spreading the word about the need of being vaccinated and staying protected from the deadly coronavirus. @sawankarangiriofficial is Karan’s new Facebook page.

Karan’s most common form of community participation is organising vaccination awareness camps, as well as visiting vaccination centres to motivate and thank people for choosing to be vaccinated. Other celebrities too are teaming up with non-profit organisations to help COVID19 patients and cure them, with a focus on those who are hesitant to obtain the vaccine. A door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination campaign is not practicable, according to the government, due to the risk of contamination and wastage. As a result, it plays an essential part to use social media to encourage people to be vaccinated.