Take vaccines to the door of the old and infirm

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While formulating our Covid vaccine strategy, we seem to have forgotten one of the most vulnerable and helpless sections of our society. The government needs to take vaccines to the doorsteps of old age homes around the country. Almost all the residents of these homes are old, infirm and physically and mentally unfit to visit vaccination centres, either private or state-run, and wait for their turn to take the jab. A large number also lack the digital literacy, devices and internet connection to book a slot for themselves. What appears routine to many in our youth and middle age might be quite challenging at old age when disease and decay set in.

The constituency of the old, inform and helpless do not end with old age homes. There are places like Kashi, Mathura, Vrindavan and Varanasi where a large number of the old and vulnerable — mostly widows — live on their own as part of old customs, and who do not have the support of old age home staff. Add to this, the dispersed population of senior citizens who live alone in cities and towns simply because their children live far away — often abroad — from where it is not possible for them to visit the country to get their parents or elders vaccinated.

Another totally vulnerable constituency are the mental hospitals and asylums where the inmates are completely incapable of helping themselves through the process.

It is morally incumbent upon the government to take vaccination to their doors. The administration can explore collaborations with reputable NGOs for the purpose. Those who are not below poverty line, can also pay for the vaccines.

The residents of the apartments in the cities should also contribute their bit by paying for the vaccines for their domestic helps and drivers — the bottom of the pyramid people who serve the middle and upper-middle class.