Mumbai: Vaccination drive for specially-abled people gives shot of hope

Abhishek Taral, 38, and get the vaccine at Jai Vakeel Foundation

It was a welcome relief for Thane resident Sanjot Shivalkar, 45, Thane when she got a call about a special vaccination drive that would benefit her brother, Vijay Shivalkar, 33. Vijay has down syndrome and is among the 500 specially abled people and their families who got vaccinated in a special drive organised by the Jai Vakeel Foundation and Jaslok hospital.

Vijay Shivalkar

"My brother is in the 18-44 age group and we had to rely on CoWIN for an appointment. I was not able to get slots for him and was getting worried amid the second wave," said Sanjot. The special drive came as a blessing for families such as theirs. "I didn't want to expose Vijay to the crowd. In this entire pandemic, I have restricted his and my travel outside. I keep him busy at home the entire day with activities like colouring or playing online and offline games. Post his second dose, I can hopefully take him out," said Sanjot.

Agreeing with Sanjot, Prakash Taral, father of Abhishek, 38, who is blind since birth, said, "Getting a vaccination appointment for my son via CoWIN was next to impossible. We are technologically challenged, too. We were getting worried about how to get him vaccinated. It felt like we had caged him in the house. We are happy that he got his first dose." Abhishek is part of the weaving section of the skill development section at Jai Vakeel Foundation & Research Centre. While 500 people were vaccinated on June 2, phase II of the vaccination drive will take place on June 7.

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Archana Chandra, chief executive officer (CEO), Jai Vakeel said that this pandemic has been the most difficult phase for students with IDD (Intellectual Developmental Disabilities) as they are unable to comprehend what has happened and unable to accept the new normal.

"It is impossible for an autistic child or down syndrome person to understand the importance of wearing masks and follow social distancing. Keeping them indoors also is difficult. Vaccination is the only way out," said Chandra. She said that within the disabilities space, IDD seems to be the most invisible. People with IDD are one of the most marginalised and excluded groups, experiencing widespread violations of their rights.

"Since these people were not included in the government priority list and fell in the open category where parents had to get an appointment on CoWIN, a special vaccination drive was a blessing," said Chandra. She added that getting them vaccinated at the comfort of the school was important. "It is difficult to handle the vaccination of people with IDD in an alienated environment. With teachers and therapists around in the school environment, it became easy to get them the shots. Seeing others getting vaccinated motivated them. This was the first time since the pandemic that they came to school all dressed up in their uniforms," said Chandra. While people with IDD got the shots free of cost, their families got them at a discounted rate. Also, Dr Samir Dalwai from the Maharashtra Task Force for paediatric Covid-19 said, "Symptoms in special needs children are often missed and hence they must be vaccinated on priority."

Kanta Masand, chairperson, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, said that a team of doctors and nurses briefed Jai Vakeel and answered all queries before the vaccination rolled out. "During the camp, the team of nurses ensured that Jai Vakeel students were handled with utmost care and understanding. It was a great Day 1 and a pleasure to collaborate with them for a noble cause," Masand said.