Delhi: Govt Asha, anganwadi workers, teachers to help bust myths, dispel Covid vaccine hesitancy

The survey work is still on in some districts with Ashas, AWWs, and teachers participating in it, along with other government officials.

With the national capital is set to roll out the Covid-19 immunisation drive, the key stakeholders -- including- Accredited Social Health Activists (Ashas), Anganwadi workers (AWWs), and government teachers -- have been given the crucial responsibility of building confidence among people and to address issues related to “vaccine hesitancy”.

The Delhi government had last week identified 5.1 million people who will be the first to get the vaccine shots under the Central government’s “priority category”.

According to the Ashas, AWWs, and teachers, who have attended training sessions for the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Delhi, they have been asked to inform people, during the ongoing door-to-door survey, about the importance of the vaccine and also work on busting myths and misinformation about the vaccination, including the fear of side effects, that is prevalent among the general public.

The Delhi government had last week identified 5.1 million people who will be the first to get the vaccine shots under the Central government’s “priority category”. The beneficiaries will receive messages via SMS and will be asked to report to the vaccination centres on a particular day and time.

The survey work is still on in some districts with Ashas, AWWs, and teachers participating in it, along with other government officials.

Usha Thakur, general secretary of Delhi Asha Workers’ Association (DAWA) who attended a Covid-19 vaccine training session in the south-west district on Monday, said Ashas have been asked to create awareness about the vaccination process in the community. “There are so many rumours about the vaccine on social media. We have to work on busting myths during our survey work. We have to make people understand the importance of vaccination...Besides, we have also been told to go door-to-door in our localities once we get vaccinated and share our first-hand experience with residents.”

Thakur said Ashas were also asked to share the difficulties they have been witnessing during the survey work. “I was on field duty last week to update the age of residents in Indra Park in order to identify beneficiaries. A group of women, in their 50s, refused to disclose their age and said they do not want to be vaccinated. They even expressed apprehensions that they might die of the side effects from the vaccine dose. It took us an hour or so to dispel their fears and update their correct age in the records.”

Recalling similar fears among the public about the polio vaccine, Chameli Devi, 48, an Asha, said there was so much resistance back then -- in the early 80s -- as well. “People used to say that their children would die if they took polio shots. They would shut doors on volunteers saying \they didn’t have children at home. We are hoping that people don’t behave like that this time around. Although people are responding to the survey, there is a lot of hesitation among them. We have been informing people to only rely on authentic information released by the government and to not trust any forwarded messages on social media or WhatsApp,” she said.

Workers have also been asked to encourage people to get vaccinated. Kavita Kumari, an anganwadi worker in east Delhi, said, “We have been assigned to identify people (above 50 years of age) who are showing resistance or hesitancy to get vaccinated and to clear their doubts. We have to convince them that it’s like any other vaccine, say, the smallpox vaccine.”

Officials said the Ashas, AWWs, and teachers have been selected for the “myth-busting” work because they have close ties in the community. Arun Mishra, district magistrate (east Delhi), said, “This is the best way to counter vaccine hesitancy among people. They regularly meet residents in their localities and people also listen to what they say. That’s why they were found most suitable for such an outreach programme.”

Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital, said, “Vaccine hesitancy is well known. Many studies have proved that. It was not there till September. But after that, with the emergence of a new strain of the virus, vaccine hesitancy has increased among people. So, it’s important to bust the myths and misconceptions. Asha workers and anganwadi workers can be good to reach out to people. But, there will be a requirement of a broader communication strategy.”