Dear Rotary Leaders
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> Dear Rotary Leaders ,
> Happy that we the Rotary Clubs in India are actively involved in Covid Vaccination program in the country. Let’s promote and support it to the best of our ability and help the Government in its endeavor to fight against Covid Pandemic. Always remember working together makes a big difference.
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> Ashok Mahajan
> Chairman, Rotary India’s Covid Task Force
> Member, TRF Covid Task Force
Dear Rotary Leaders
900 million and Counting
India’s Covid Vaccine coverage crossed the 90-crore landmark on
October 2, 2021. The coverage of country’s adult population increased to 70% of the estimated adult population of 94 crore with at least one dose. Till now about 26% of the adult population has received both the doses.
It is aim of the Government of India to increase the ‘first-dose coverage’ of the adult population to at least 90% by the end of October 2021. Vaccination of children in the age group of 12 to 17 years in a phased manner is expected to start this month. The roll out of one more new vaccine, ZyCoV-D, is expected soon and the estimated availability of all the three vaccines, Covishield, Covaxin and ZyCoV-D will be above 30 crores from October 2021.
Unvaccinated people are exposed to the virulent Delta Strain which is seen in 187 out of the 194 WHO member countries. It is distressing to read the Reuters tally which says that the 5 million people have died worldwide due to Covid and that last week alone over 8,000 Covid deaths have been reported across the globe.
Many countries are still battling vaccine misinformation and people are avoiding inoculations for various imaginary reasons. Rotary clubs must take the message that India was one of the first countries which faced the Delta variant which resulted in 4,000 deaths a day. This has been drastically reduced when the vaccination programme and advocacy was stepped by in the society by Rotarians. It is expected that industrial and business enterprises will insist on their staff getting vaccinated if they want to retain their jobs. Rotarians who run businesses must insist that their staff get vaccinated. I am again appealing to the all the Zonal Co-ordinators and District Governors to monitor if all the Rotarians in their district and zones have been vaccinated. This is a must since they are expected to promote vaccination, go out talk to people who have any number of questions about the vaccines and ensure that the community is safe and we do not have any more ‘waves’. Vaccination is just a technology for wellbeing. Tell people that this proven technology will produce results irrespective of their beliefs or fear. People who are hesitant to get the jab must be taught to accept the approval of others when it comes to a life-saving vaccine technology.
Activists for good causes often experience disapproval, scorn and rejection of ideas. Rotarians must be willing to accept the over-reactions of people who are not willing to get vaccinated, meaning that we should not see their hesitancy as a reason to give up talking again and again to them. Eventually they will respect your single mindedness and even join you to get others to be vaccinated. This shows how important Rotarians can be, a beacon to the world. We did it for Polio eradication. We must do it to eradicate Covid now.
Ashok Mahajan