An Extra Step for COVID Vaccines

While we’re in the midst of the second COVID wave, the entire country is desperately waiting for vaccines to be made available to individuals in the 18–45 age group. While the central government has announced that the vaccination drive will start from 1st May, certain states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka have not launched this drive due to the unavailability of vaccines. In this article, we will cover general information on vaccinations, such as the types of vaccines available and how to register for them and also talk about individuals who are going out of their way to spread awareness about vaccinations.

There are multiple vaccines which have been authorized for use in India — Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech, Sputnik V developed by Russia and currently being manufactured by Sun Pharma. Currently, slots for only Covaxin and Covishield are being allotted and Sputnik V is expected to be available soon. A comparison of the various vaccines can be found here.

You can register for the vaccine either through the CoWin Portal or through the Aarogya Setu app. Head over to either portal, enter your phone number and basic information such as photo-identification number, date of birth etc and book a slot once the registration is complete. You can find a comprehensive guide on how to register here.

While around 2 Cr people have already registered on the CoWin portal, several individuals have gone out of their way to not just register themselves but also spread awareness about vaccinations among lower income communities. Prominent social media writer Anshul Saxena spread awareness among lower income households and also assisted people in registering on the Co-Win Portal. You can read more about @AskAnshul’s work here.

We’d also like to talk about G Suresh Kumar who’s been on a cycle yatra for over a year and has spread awareness about COVID and the importance of getting vaccinated in more than 400 villages across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. We thank @SocioStory for highlighting this story.

How can you help: Spreading ground awareness and dispelling misinformation against the vaccine is a crucial step to beat the pandemic, for further information read this.

We need to take that extra step and help people we come in contact with like our domestic help or cook or office boy register for the vaccine and reinforce the importance of getting vaccinated. Also, as the vaccination slots for 18–45 age groups open up, please donate blood before taking the vaccine as you won’t be eligible to donate blood for 2 months after getting vaccinated.