Samen in actie tegen corona Intervention strategy 1: Increase Covid-19 vaccine coverage

Even though vaccination has proven to be effective, it needs to overcome a number of challenges, including financial, low uptake, social stigma, and lack of accurate information, in order to work. Save the Children will address the barriers from supply and demand side, ensuring that more people have opportunities to get vaccines. Under this project, Save the Children India will drive the five key elements of COVID-19 vaccination communication strategy – strengthening vaccination facilities, social mobilization, capacity building, advocacy and media engagement in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

Intervention Strategy 2: Enhance the COVID-19 Treatment in public health sector in partnership with Health Department, Medical Colleges, Allied Institutions, Alliances and Partners

Subsequent oxygen shortage and other essential supplies has overwhelmed India’s system. There is a shortage in supply of oxygen, lack of ICU beds, and brittle supply chains that have wreaked chaos in the cities of India. Additionally, the highly infectious virus is now spreading rapidly deep inside the villages in rural India. The rural health infrastructure is highly inadequate and underprepared to respond to the current COVID-19 surge. Experts are also predicting that India may witness a third wave of COVID and country should further strengthen the health facilities including pediatric inpatient care. Save the Children will equip public health facilities for improved oxygen delivery and other essential supplies at primary, secondary and tertiary care facilities. 

Intervention Strategy 3 – Provide care and support for the home isolation cases

The number of home isolation cases are increasing day by day and it is known that the patients from marginalized communities, daily wagers and those belonging to low or middle-income group, are not able to buy essential items like oximeters, medicines, masks and sanitizers due to lack of resources. To correctly monitor the progress in terms of oxygen level, temperature and take appropriate preventive measures in home isolation, resources like finger-tip oximeter, thermometer, steamer, face masks, a hand sanitizer, Vitamin C tablets and Vitamin D3 sachets, paracetamol and cough syrup and treatment drugs as per government guidelines are needed. In consultation with district health department and their approval, Save the Children will customize COVID-19 Home Care Kit for home isolation patients and will hand over to the health facilities for supporting the needy patients. Through these kits, COVID patients in isolation can track their health status including oxygen level, temperature, update health officials on their health status, and seek any emergency medical support at the time of need from health facilities.
Intervention strategy 4: Understand the demand side barriers to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination through a research focused on behavioral insights

Although the provision of the vaccination is important, the journey to vaccination begins long before that, when individuals and communities start learning about a vaccine and think about getting it. It is vital to understand how people make decisions related to vaccination in order to create vaccination programs and roll-outs that encourage more people to get vaccinated. Save the Children will conduct a research in order to understand the root causes of the fear against the update of the vaccination which will help inform further programming on changing communities’ behavior.