Unhappy over the lukewarm response from people to the government’s appeal to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a resident of the district hit upon a strategy to offer incentives to eligible persons who received the jab.
R. Thambidurai, 30, a studio photographer from M. Kunnathur village in Ulundurpet taluk offered incentives in the form of utensils to people who got themselves vaccinated. The response was overwhelming, and around 94 persons from his village took the jab in a special camp held in the village on Monday. Mr. Thambidurai said that his aim was to reach out to local residents and convince them about the need to get vaccinated to protect themselves.
Though the Health Department organised awareness camps in the village, people were hesitant to take the shot, he says. People from several villages near Kunnathur died due to the COVID-19 infection and Mr. Thambidurai was flooded with requests for printing obituary photos.
“I first took the shot a few days ago and convinced local residents that it was the right decision in the battle against the pandemic. But the neighbours and local residents who were not prepared for vaccination continued to drag their feet. Since the response was poor, I decided to provide incentives in the form of utensils to those who got vaccinated,” he said.
This incentive worked and within days of his announcement on a WhatsApp group, as many as 94 persons from Kunnathur village came forward and got vaccinated. Mr. Thambidurai purchased the utensils costing ₹5,500 from out of the earnings he had made through a recent order in his studio.
“Though my monthly earnings suffered a big hit due to the pandemic, I went ahead and decided to offer the incentives to motivate people. My family supported my decision, and I am happy that the incentives made people get inoculated,” he says.
Officials of the Health Department also praised Mr. Thambidurai for his strategy. A doctor at Kiliyur Primary health centre said that they had exhausted their vaccine stocks. “We started an awareness drive in the village and appealed to local residents through tom-tom to get themselves vaccinated. However, only a few turned up in the village during the camp. But the incentives pushed many people to take vaccine,” he said.