Vaccination Drive @Simpl

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The need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 cannot be overemphasized. With multiple waves and mutant versions, the pandemic has taught us many lessons, especially the need to protect oneself, to the extent possible, against the virus. This is why vaccine cover truly matters. As is rightly pointed out by both doctors and the govt., the vaccine is our ‘Suraksha Kavach’ against the pandemic. 

 

How we did it: Our Veni, vidi, vici moment

We decided to organize a vaccine drive for the benefit of our employees and the community, at large. 

At Simpl, we believe in doing good for all to create a better tomorrow. Aligned to this idea, we threw open the vaccine participation to all, so as to include as many persons as possible. 

This included people outside Simpl as well, consisting of home maids, security staff of apartments, cooks, drivers, shopkeepers. Basically, those from the economically weaker segments who were interested in getting vaccinated and willing to visit our office premises for the same. 

 

Breaking down the numbers

The vaccination drive organized at Simpl’s office on 11th June 2021 was a resounding success. 

In total: 

• 410 individuals took the vaccination

• 371 opted for Covishield

• 37 opted for Covaxin

• 231 participants were from outside Simpl, who were referred by Union, a Bengaluru- based NGO and community service organization

• 175 were from within Simpl – employees and their families and friends

 

The chronology of events was something like this:

4th June 2021: We approached Apollo Hospital Seshadripuram, Bengaluru for arranging vaccination for our employees, that would be conducted at our office premises. The Apollo Hospital staff agreed to undertake a vaccination drive at the Simpl office on June 11th Friday. However, there was a catch. We had to match their corporate partnership criterion of minimum of 500 doses of both Covaxin and CoviShield put together. 

 

5th June 2021: We sprang into action. After rolling out a form to the entire team@Simpl, we were able to get over 100 responses that summed up to a total of 250 individuals who expressed their interest in getting vaccinated.  This included Simpl employees, their near and dear ones, and the people they interacted with on a daily basis. 

 

6th June 2021: We finalised the deal for 500 doses with Apollo Hospitals. Our team began brainstorming a plan to fill the remaining slots of the balance 250 doses.

 

8th June 2021:  We partnered with The Union, a Bengaluru-based youth organization who are actively involved in ground-level COVID -19 relief work, since January 2021. Being a social aggregator platform, they were able to mobilize 230 people from lower income segments who wished to avail of vaccination.   The break-up of their list included:

• 6 students
• 30 domestic help and maids residing in Bengaluru
• 79 shopkeepers and their staff
• 62 factory workers and clerical staff

 

9th June 2021: As part of the pre-drive preparations, we created a comprehensive excel sheet of registered participants with details of age, COWIN registration numbers, allocated time slots, and available slots for the day. The goal was to accommodate and complete vaccination for 100 individuals per hour as part of the drive. 

 

11th June 2021: The D-Day a.k.a the Drive Day finally arrived. At all times, adherence to all COVID-19 protocols and guidelines regarding maintenance of social distancing was ensured.

 

• The team from Apollo Hospitals consisted of 4 nurses, 1 admin staff, and 1 doctor to ensure the smooth running of the entire operations. 

• The doctor from Apollo Hospitals was present at all times in a separate cabin to address concerns, if any, (like side-effects due to administration of the vaccine dose) and to provide immediate help if required.

• We dedicated all 3 floors at the Simpl office to conduct the drive in a seamless manner. 

° The 3rd floor was assigned for people to wait and register themselves on the COWIN app prior to taking the jab

 

• The 4th floor was for people to take rest for about 15-20 minutes after taking the vaccine shot as advised by the doctor. This was done to immediately address any side effects after the shot before heading home. In the meanwhile, the ones who took the vaccine received an SMS from COWIN about the successful completion of their 1st dose – urging them to download their vaccine certificates.

 

• The 5th floor was the action zone i.e. the vaccine floor where entry was restricted to only 10 people at a time, who were allowed to register on the spot and take the vaccine shot.

 

• 10 volunteers from the Union NGO addressed the concerns of the community of people whom they had referred

We thank all those who made the vaccination initiative a huge success. We urge all employees to vaccine themselves, their family members, and domestic staff at the earliest to curb the spread of the pandemic. 

Do your bit towards a safe and healthy world.