Social Inequality Hinders COVID-19 Vaccine Access for Vulnerable Groups, Study Reveals
Social Inequality Hinders COVID-19 Vaccine Access for Vulnerable Groups, Study Reveals
"The guard at the vaccine centre did not allow me to go inside and he was stopping me," said a transman. A recent study by Science Direct reveals disturbing ground realities of 'structural inequalities' in the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.
Written By: Aanchal Mishra | Updated : September 4, 2024 8:33 AM IST
Disabled And Transgenders In India Faced Social Inequality To Get COVID-19 Vaccines: Study
When the world was going through a tough time with millions of people dying around the world and struggling to get vaccinated against COVID-19, India has launched world' largest COVID-19 vaccine drive to combat the pandemic.
Not only has India vaccinated Indians on a mega-scale but donated vaccines for Corona Virus to other developing countries as well. However, a recent study published in the science journal, Science Direct, unveil the structural inequalities faced by the disabled, transgenders and gender-diverse people during the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Let's delve into the findings of Science Direct report about the social inequality face by the 'marginalized groups' in India during COVID-19 vaccination programs.
Key Findings Of The Study
A recent study has highlighted the significant social inequalities that hindered access to COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable groups in India, including people with disabilities and transgender individuals. Read on to learn more about the social disparity these groups have faced:
After indulging in extensive research, a troubling gap was found between the general public and gender-diverse people getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The number of 'general public' vaccinated against COVID-19 in May 2021 in India was 11.7 per cent while the number of trans and gender-diverse people was 5.22 per cent.
The same number significantly dropped to approximately 0.03 per cent by November 2021 within the disabled community.
The transgender and gender diverse community face negligence in the health sector and lack of family support due to the stigma attached to them. They are more prone to meet with medical carelessness given their high number of unemployment and poor status in the social and economic landscape of India.
One of the big reasons of inaccessibility of COVID-19 vaccine among the transgender community was not having the mandatory identity cards. Some of them do not have an updated id cards showing their trans identity which caused them a fair number of problems for them.
Long distance of vaccination centres created plenty of problems for the disabled people. Initially, no steps were taken by the Ministry of Health to address this issue. However, according to the research, the government of India started door to door vaccine drive, paving way for some relief.
Some transgender people revealed during the interview with the research team that fear, anxiety and confusion were among the reasons why they skipped vaccination. "I had this fear inside me of whether to get vaccinated or not as my SRS happened at that time," said a transwoman.
Besides all this, mistreatment by the healthcare workers at the vaccination centres was also reported by the participants of the research study. "They created a scene. The guard at the vaccine centre did not allow me to go inside and he was stopping me," said a transman.
Although the study underscores that it does not conclude the experience of the entire community. However, the findings highlight the need to make urgent changes, keeping in mind the needs and rights of the disabled and transgender people.
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