To achieve its goal of vaccinating one million people against Covid-19 in June, the government of Uttar Pradesh launched a special vaccination campaign for women on Monday. In each district of the country at least two “pink” vaccination booths have been set up exclusively for women. Only female employees are used at these stands.
The state government has instructed the districts to start the campaign with at least two such stands, one for women aged 18-44 and one for women over 45 years of age. These booths were grouped together in district women’s clinics or district hospitals.
The aim of this initiative is to encourage women to overcome vaccination reluctance and to increase voter turnout in rural areas.
(Photo: Abhishek Mishra)
The India Today team visited two such women’s booths in Lucknow on Monday to see how they work and whether the turnout was good.
At the Veerangana Avantibai Women Hospital
Participation in this special women’s center was low on the first day of operation.
Kamlesha Devi, 50 years old, came from her village of Karetia to Veerangana Avantibai Women Hospital to have the vaccine removed.
She said that the women in her village are still concerned about quitting because they feel they may lose their lives in the process. According to Devi, misunderstandings and myths surrounding the vaccine, as well as religious beliefs, are the main obstacles to vaccinating rural women.
(Photo: Abhishek Mishra)
Similarly, 31-year-old Mamta Srivastava from Alambagh said that many women are reluctant to take the vaccine because they question its effectiveness and fear the consequences. She said she came to get vaccinated because she has two young children and wants to keep them from getting infected.
The mother-daughter duo Alka and Shagun Dwivedi said special campaigns like this one for women, as well as awareness-raising programs, could increase women’s participation in the vaccination campaign.
Speaking to India Today, Senior Medical Superintendent Dr. Sudha Verma that the special women’s initiative would help to have more women vaccinated in a short period of time. “Although voter turnout is low on the first day, we expect a good number of beneficiaries in the coming days when awareness is higher,” she said.
At the Radha Swami Satsang Center
At the Radha Swami Satsang Center in Mohanlalganj in the Lucknow district, the employee Nisha Maurya said that the participation on the first day of the operation of the special stand was not large. However, some women have come from rural areas and she believes the number will increase in the next few days.
(Photo: Abhishek Mishra)
Speaking to India Today, District Vaccination Officer Dr. MK Singh that many men had booked places at the special stands for women due to a technical error. This contributed to the low turnout.
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