Mumbai: The unsung role of peripheral workers in vaccination drive

As the city races to fight Covid19 through vaccinations two senior nurses both with work experience totalling three decades have been conducting health talks at a civic vaccination centre in Dindoshi Malad to fight hesitancy The centre is located amid slums where there is a lack of awareness of the virus and the means to fight itThe Dindoshi Hall vaccination centre takes the help of ASHAs Accredited Social Health Activist and anganwadi workers who bring people to the centre to attend the 15minute talks by the nursesDhruvlata Joshi 59 and Shobha Aher 60Nurses Dhruvlata Joshi 59 and Shobha Aher 60 have worked in private and government hospitals in Mumbai and Thane and have vast experience in giving intramuscular injectionsAssistant medical officer of Dindoshi Hall vaccination centre Dr Sushant Kadam said that from Monday to Wednesday locals can walk in for vaccines while from Thursday to Saturday those with appointments are allowedAlso Read Mumbai 1844 group contributes to maximum paid vaccination dosesldquoWhile Aher comes from Kalyan Joshi stays with her 90yearold mother in Maladrdquo Dr Kadam saidDesire to contributeJoshi who has worked for over 35 years said ldquoI am a trained General Nursing Midwife GNM and have worked in many private hospitals in Mumbai But after the onset of the pandemic the hospital where I was working asked all staff aged above 45 years to stay at home I wanted to continue working but I had to follow the rulerdquoThe team of Dindoshi Hall vaccination centreldquoWhen the vaccination drive started in Mumbai I contacted a few people in BMC and got a job to administer the intramuscular injections at Dindoshi Hallrdquo she addedldquoI stay with my mother at Liberty Garden in Malad West Though many people including my mother tell me to stay at home I believe it is my social responsibility to work as I am a trained medical staffrdquo said Joshi Joshi said that during their talks people ask about the side effects of vaccinesldquoPeople are illinformed or have no reliable source of information So they believe rumours and become hesitant about inoculation As such the health talks are important for them They are proving successful as those who are unwilling to get the vaccine return home with their first dose administeredrdquo Dr Kadam saidTo make the long journey from Kalyan Aher a trained Auxiliary Nursing Midwife ANM starts her day at 6 am and boards a train around 730 am She reaches Andheri via the Metro and then proceeds to Goregaon on a slow train and to Dindoshi Hall in a bus to report for work at 10 am She ends her day at 3 pm and reaches home at 6 pmJoshi administers a vaccine at the Dindoshi Hall vaccination centreldquoI retired from a civic hospital in Thane in June 2019rdquo Aher said ldquoI felt helpless after the pandemic began and wanted to contribute But since I was retired I could not join the workforce My children and relatives also discouraged me from going out But being a trained nurse it was not possible for me to stay home amid a health emergencyrdquoldquoWhen the vaccination drive started I used my contacts to get this profile of administering intramuscular injections It satisfies me that I am able to contribute in some wayrdquo Aher addedAt the health talkGeneral queries at Aher and Joshirsquos health talks include questions on whether people can continue medicines for blood pressure sugar thyroid etc The duo conducts around seven to eight health talks in a day for a group of 1015 people Beneficiaries are given the vaccine only after getting all the informationJoshi said ldquoTo gain the trust of vaccinehesitant people we tell them why the vaccine is important secondly we tell them how if their first dose is Covishield the second one also will have to be CovishieldrdquoldquoIf the beneficiary is righthanded the vaccine is always administered on the left hand and viceversa We also suggest them not to apply icehot packs on the injected area even if it painsrdquo Joshi addedldquoPeople generally fall sick get chills etc after getting vaccinated but slum dwellers believe they have got Covid19 because of the shot So we educate them about the side effects and recommend paracetamolrdquo Joshi saidldquoThere are many people visiting our vaccination centre for the second dose After attending our health talks they appreciate our efforts at spreading awarenessrdquo Joshi addedAher added ldquoThis is the first time when the entire world is fighting the same disease So everybody is confused regarding the vaccine Being a trained medical staff it is my sole responsibility to enlighten people about it and the ways to fight itrdquo