Become a Vaccine Champion

Grade 11 students Anandita and Vedanshi have founded an initiative called ‘Vaccine Champion’ to address the COVID vaccine hesitancy and vaccination deniers in India. In only the span of a month the initiative has grown from just two students to a team of 25 people from different cities in India – including Chandigarh, Panchkula, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Nagpur, Delhi, Noida, Chhattisgarh and Tirupur. The campaign has even reached Singapore. The Vaccine Champion team has created an Instagram account, a YouTube Channel and a website to spread as much information to as many people as possible. We reached out to Anandita to find out more about the campaign, as well as how the TISB community can join the team and get more people vaccinated.

India has been reeling under a paradox! – Anandita, Grade 11

As the second wave of COVID-19 hit India, it caught many people off guard, and brought with it much devastation. Many had hoped that the introduction and launch of vaccinations would prevent that from happening, but due to two major reasons this did not happen. “On one hand there is a problem of vaccine shortage and on the other hand there is vaccine hesitancy causing many dosages to go waste”, says Anandita, who had heard stories of how even some healthcare workers were reluctant to accept the vaccines.

Anandita began to explore ways in which she could help and turn the tide. Stepping out of the house was out of question, especially since the second wave had hit the country. Therefore, Anandita along with her friend Vedanshi, started planning and setting up an advocacy group run by High School students. “Our aim was to recruit vaccine champions in every city and every school in India”, says Anandita, explaining that their target audience of Indian High School students tend to believe mostly in science and facts. “We aim to reach out to all students across India with a philosophy of ‘each one, convert one’!”, Anandita continues, stressing that students tend to have a strong persuasive power within their families and among friends. Once they have information and knowledge, they are the best advocates for passing it on to others.

By creating a website, YouTube channel and an Instagram account, the team invites experts and specialist doctors to debunk myths about vaccination and target people with various health conditions. “So far, we have interviewed a leading Rheumatologist from Singapore and a Cardiologist, a Urologist and Kidney Transplant surgeon, an Oncologist, a Pulmonologist, and Gynaecologist from leading hospitals in India. We also interviewed a doctor from a vaccination centre”, says Anandita.

So far, the team has created posts, reels and stories on their 500 followers strong Instagram account to keep the engagement level of our followers high. The Instagram account also features celebrities. “In less than one month, we have managed to get two famous Bollywood actors and two leading Punjabi actors to endorse vaccination on our Instagram page”, says Anandita, pointing out that one of the posts has received over 63,000 views.

The team behind the campaign is also planning to host webinars with marginalised groups, such as LGBTQ. A way of encouraging students around the country to join the movement, and at the same time contribute to spreading awareness, the team plans to hold school competitions; for example, essay writing, slogan writing and poster making competitions on different themes and topics regarding vaccination.

Furthermore, the team has started thinking about how to broaden the activities of the initiative and target offline people without social media access through NGOs. “We also plan to raise funds in the future for those who cannot pay for their vaccinations and do not have access to free government sponsored vaccination centres”, says Anandita, who hopes that they can collaborate with international organisations working to spread information and awareness about vaccines.

The team would like the TISB community of students to join the initiative so that vaccine hesitancy does not become a road block in making the world a safer place. “The idea is that even if one student convinces one person to get vaccinated, it would make a huge difference”, concludes Anandita.

For more information and resources, visit the Vaccine Champion’s website. Follow the Vaccine Champion Instagram account, and watch expert videos on the Vaccine Champion YouTube channel.