June 20, 2021
SIO plans to carry out mass-scale awareness by roping in community leaders, influential personalities and experts
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — In a bid to ensure equitable distribution of Covid vaccines, the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) has begun a large-scale awareness and vaccine registration drive, especially for ‘digitally marginalised’ people of the country.
According to a press stetemnt by one of the largest organisation of Muslim students, ‘Vaccination for All’ campaign has been launched to “demand and work towards universal inoculation in a timely manner”.
The campaign is a part of SIO’s ‘Covid Relief Task Force’ efforts launched at the peak of the second of Covid-19 pandemic to provide help to patients struggling to get access to hospital care amidst an unprecedented health crisis. In the last two months, these volunteers fielded over 30,000 distress calls and provided verified information about the availability of oxygen, hospital beds, plasma donors, medicines and ambulances and conducted tele-counselling to around 20,000 patients.
Under ‘Vaccination for All’, volunteers in various states will raise awareness about the vaccination, carry out registration and provide transportation and other facilities, the statement announced.
The organisation will also continue to press the state and central governments to ensure that no one is deprived of vaccine shots.
“In this continued fight against coronavirus, the most important phase is vaccination. It is the silver bullet to mitigate the impending crisis. However, many are still hesitant about taking the jab. On the other hand, a large section of society that lacks digital literacy and internet and mobile facilities is being deprived of vaccines. We are still miles away from universal vaccination thanks to poor planning and ill-conceived policies of the central government,” said SIO National President Mohammad Salman Ahmad.
In the upcoming weeks, SIO plans to carry out mass-scale awareness by roping in community leaders, influential personalities and experts. The volunteers, in collaboration with other NGOs, will set up kiosks and counters for registration support at places of worship, community centres and offices, focussing on the digitally backward areas.
The organisation will also urge the government to systematically administer its responsibility of universal vaccination.
“While the government has failed miserably in controlling the pandemic and ensuring vaccines for all, we as citizens and Muslims must realise our responsibility and extending a helping hand to those in need. We will build on the success of Covid Relief Task Force and use the organisational infrastructure and resources in taking the vaccines to the most deprived and sections of the society,” said Salman Ahmad.