Covid Vaccinations in Tribal Communities

We were curious to know how the ethnic communities of Chhattisgarh are preventing the spread of Covid so effectively, while the whole world was reeling from its deathly pangs!

Covid raged through India in the initial days, sweeping devastation across the length & breadth of the country. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh as well as most of the major metropolitan cities were badly hit. Unawareness, misconceptions about the virility & in many cases sheer ignorance of people caused death & devastation.

However, in the rural tribal communities, the virus was somewhat controlled. The government working with the local panchayats, ethnic community leaders & many social organizations, took to several unique ways to communicate the deadliness of the virus & educate the tribal people on the need to get vaccinated.

Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation, a non-profit organization led by an ethnic team from Balarampur, Chhattisgarh, went from one tribal village to another, accompanied by community members, nurse & mid-wives who were familiar with those communities, spreading the news of the vaccine, providing with masks & personal protection medicines and providing on-site assistance to those who wish to get vaccinated.

This video was taken in the community of the Khairwar Oraon ethnicity & the singers are singing the merits of a good & healthy life & how the vaccine could keep the villagers alive & healthy. The language is an archaic version of Sandri, a local language spoken in some very rural areas of Chhattisgarh.

The communities came together, not only having close to 100% vaccination rate but also implementing proper social distancing rules, personal hygiene etc. Looking back, the intent to save lives, these innovative approaches & the desire to persist with these programs till every community member is safe, led to saving all these heritage tribes.