Forget uneducated, even corporate employees scared to take vaccines

It is not just rural India that suffers from vaccine hesitancy. The workforce in cities like Delhi and the IT capital of India, Bengaluru too are shying away from taking the vaccine causing a lot of anxiety among the head honchos of India Inc.

A large proportion of the corporate workforce is scared and hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine out of superstition and fear. But, industry leaders know the writing on the wall is clear that vaccination is critical to sustain the economic recovery of the country, said a Times of India report.

The report quoted Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder and CEO, at gig marketplace, Urban Company. He said that they were on an “overdrive” to get their staff vaccinated but there was a 20 per cent that was still wary of the vaccine.

IT software companies are also hitting a stonewall when it comes to vaccine hesitancy. “While we have rolled out vaccination drives, vaccine hesitancy took me by surprise,” said Partha de Sarkar, CEO of Hinduja Global Solutions, quoted TOI. Out of 8000 staffers, only 2,500 have expressed their willingness to take the shot.

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Bengaluru-based Titan Co. too is ostensibly facing a similar dilemma. As factory workers and store staff drag their feet to get their inoculation done despite two rounds of communication from the management warning them that they are putting others at risk.

Hence, companies have taken the bull by its horns and decided to either make it mandatory or conduct training sessions to drive home the importance of the vaccine jab.

E-commerce firms, especially, need to ensure that their supply and delivery chain staff are vaccinated. However, a Zomato spokesperson has confirmed to TOI that 63 per cent of their 1.5 lakh delivery staff have been vaccinated, while Flipkart is giving free vaccines for its frontline workers.

To date, the country has administered 315 million vaccine doses, with approximately 4 per cent of the population receiving both doses so far.