Written by Shrutikantha Kandali

“It is critical that everyone is vaccinated since it minimises the fatality rate caused by COVID-19,” says Ratnamma, 49, of Shadnagar Village in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district. Ratnamma, on the other hand, wasn’t always so aware of and confident in the immunisation process.
When the Government announced free vaccinations for citizens above 45 years of age, Ratnamma faced two issues. One issue was access – long lines and a cumbersome registration process made the procedure risky. The second, and perhaps most important, the concern of vaccination arose from the fact that neither she nor her husband, David, had correct knowledge about the vaccine. She believed the rumour mill churning fake news of fatality linked to the vaccination. “Some people warned me that if you get the vaccine, you will die, while a few others said you would get fever and headache,” she says.

It was during a door-to-door awareness campaign by HPPI’s Community Development Project (CDP) in Ranga Reddy when the team visited Ratnamma. She says, “Knowing my apprehensions, team members from HPPI explained to me the entire process, took me to the vaccination centre and got my name registered to get the first dose of the vaccine.” Ratnamma was also prescribed by the doctor to take Paracetamol in case of fever and headache which are common side-effects of the vaccine.

In a similar case, 51-year-old Kottali Sudhakar Goud from Mahabubnagar was visiting his daughter’s village in Nandigama Mandal, Ranga Reddy when he heard about HPPI’s initiatives. When the team visited his daughter’s home, Sudhakar cleared all his doubts and took the team’s help to get the first dose of the vaccine for him and his wife. He says, “I had heard a lot of fake news. Some people around me said that I could die of blood clotting if I took the vaccine. But none of this is true. Apart from a slight fever and headache, the vaccine only protects us from high-level COVID-19 infections.”

Kottali Sudhakar Goud and his wife

Qualified nurses under HPPI’s CDP Ranga Reddy followed up with Kottali and ensured that all his family members got vaccinated. Today, they continue to help the Primary Health Centres (PHC) in online registrations, following up on COVID-19 positive cases and sharing correct information and awareness on behalf of the PHCs. Project team members are also mobilising the community with information and technological aid while training the youth in the registration process.

It is very crucial at this time that everyone gets vaccinated as it will help reduce the risks and make a person help fight the virus if exposed. The Government of India is working with the state governments and civil society organisations to ensure that all people in the 45+ age group get vaccinated, followed by people in the 18-44 age group. World Health Organization states, “the COVID-19 vaccines produce protection against the disease, as a result of developing an immune response to the SARS-Cov-2 virus.  Developing immunity through vaccination means there is a reduced risk of developing the illness and its consequences.”

Aiding this idea is a global movement called the People’s Vaccine Alliance which supports the idea that vaccines should be made accessible for all. The People’s Vaccine Alliance is a movement of health, spearheaded by global humanitarian and human rights organisations, past and present world leaders, health experts, and many others, advocating that COVID-19 vaccines be manufactured rapidly and at scale, as a global common good, free of intellectual property protections and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge. To know more about the movement, visit https://peoplesvaccine.org/.

While the COVID-19 vaccine will protect us from serious illness or fatality, it is always important that we continue wearing masks, practice safe hygiene and maintain physical distancing.