India’s Vaccinators, Assam: ‘We talk to them for hours, tell them we have taken it too’
Added to vaccine hesitancy in Assam’s remote areas is the lack of mobile network, which delays registration on CoWin portal.
Shajida Khatun Shajida Khatun (49), ANM health worker, Goalpara, Assam
Most of 49-year-old Shajida Khatun’s year has been spent navigating the waters of the Brahmaputra to vaccinate the residents of Assam’s remote chars and chaporis, or the shifting sandbars that dot the river and its tributaries.
An ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) health worker in Goalpara district, Khatun has walked for hours, sometimes in knee-deep water, to vaccinate people in areas, where she says “no cars can even reach”.
Marked by poor health indices, illiteracy and poverty, the chars are not easy to access, especially during the monsoon.
“The terrain has always been challenging even for routine health check-ups. But for vaccination drives, it is even harder,” said Khatun, adding that they walk in the sandy islands in extreme heat and sometimes, rain.
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