A Vaccine for All – Action for Rural India

In India, as of December 2021, 50% of the population had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and 85% of the population had received at least one dose. However, while the trend of vaccination progress in India is positive, the emergence of new variants of the virus and constant crowding of people still make exposure to the infection very dangerous, especially for the most vulnerable people. Furthermore, millions of people, especially in rural areas of the country, still do not have access to the vaccine because they are unable to register on the portals for access to the vaccine, because they are illiterate or because they do not have the tools and internet connection; others are sick or have no one to accompany them to the designated vaccination clinics. This intervention is part of the international campaign “A Vaccine for All” aimed at promoting universal access to anti-Covid vaccinations for populations in low-income countries and is the result of collaboration with the humanitarian organization Shanti Ashram through its International Center for Child and Public Health (ICPH) in Coimbatore. The project aims to promote an awareness campaign on the importance of vaccination; identify people most at risk for particular situations of vulnerability (severe disabilities, additional pathologies already present, elderly people, single-parent families, ethnic minorities and very low-income families) to give them priority in vaccination; the vaccination of 2,500 people through special mobile clinics (2,000 doses will be provided by the government 500 will be paid for by the project); collaboration with local public health authorities for authorizations and procedures and sharing data with the national health system and the World Health Organization.