LIMITED MOBILITY, DIGITAL DIVIDE HOLDING WOMEN BACK: EXPERTS
LUCKNOW : Limited mobility and online registration are some of the key reasons for fewer women than men taking the Covid-19 vaccine, social scientists and experts say.
Another such factor is the idea among some women that since they themselves are not going outdoors amid the corona restrictions, it is more important for their husbands, brothers and sons to get inoculated ahead of them, according to the experts.
While 80.27 lakh men (56%) got the first dose in Uttar Pradesh, only 60.84 lakh women (44%) received it in the state since the start of the first phase of immunisation that began on January 16 on a nationwide basis.
Vibhuti Patel, a retired professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, says, “Mobility is a major problem for women to step out in this lockdown period as public transport is not available.”
“Online registration for those working in the informal sector is difficult as many of them do not use smartphones. They use the old keypad phones. Even if some use Android phone, they may not have internet connections and may not be comfortable in getting online registration done,” she says.
“Vaccination centres should be set up at community centres or the housing society-based kind of services should be rolled out to give jabs to more women,” Patel suggests.
Prof Rakesh Chandra, former director of Institute of Women Studies at University of Lucknow, says, “One of the biggest problems now is the digital
divide. Most women do not have smartphones and the registration is online; 93% women workers in the informal sector are badly impacted due to this.”
“The ASHA (accredited social health activists) bahus, anganwadi workers as healthcare functionaries are not yet universally covered while nurses and doctors have been vaccinated in the first phase. Formal sectors like offices are doing special drives but there are fewer women in these sectors,” he adds.
Prof Chandra also says, “Hesitancy among women to go for vaccination has also been enhanced by confusion created by some people in the case of pregnant and lactating mothers. Poor women with poor nutrition and immunity need special attention.”
“The question of access to vaccination for women has many serious problems related to our social setup
where they are largely malnourished. Women are the principal care givers to the old, children and the sick, therefore both burdened and vulnerable. Women are also trained not to complain about their health,” says Prof Chandra.
Dr Neelam Singh, chief functionary at the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Varsalya, and Professor Nishi Pandey of Lucknow University say limited mobility and lack of awareness among women possibly could be the main factor for fewer women getting vaccinated so far as compared to men.
Dr Kanupriya Singhal, health specialist with UNICEF, says, “It is important for both women and men to get vaccinated against Covid. Government of India recently permitted vaccination for lactating women, while vaccination for pregnant women is still under consideration by technical groups.”