Of the total 39.1 crore vaccinated people in India, a small ratio include vaccinated transgender people in India. Starting from the 16th of January, the nationwide vaccination drive has so far vaccinated only 5 % of trans community people against the deadly Wuhan virus (COVID-19.)
As per census data, there are approximately 5 lakh transgender people in India, of which only 25,468 received their COVID-19 vaccine doses. The data was confirmed as per the Central Government launched CoWin portal, which shows a total of 8,80,47,053 men and 7,67,64,479 women have been vaccinated. However, just 25,468 people in the ‘other’ category have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine doses.
What could be the major reason behind the low percentage of vaccinated transgender people in India?
Many activists and social non government organisations (NGOs) for the trans community believe lack of knowledge, attention and government documents are some major reasons behind such low numbers. Pushpa Mai, a Rajasthan based activist said, “They were misguided. They were told that taking vaccination will make their health worse. We have explained to them that getting vaccinated can protect them from this deadly disease and they should get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Adding to it, many transgenders were informed by unreliable sources that HIV positive people, who underwent any surgeries or with health complications should not take the COVID-19 vaccines. Surrounded with such myths and misinformation many not only avoided vaccination but also spread the false information to others, restricting the figures of vaccinated people belonging to transgender community.
The low number is seen despite the constant efforts of the Central Government and states and union territories government to spread awareness. The Assam Government took the first step and launched the first vaccination drive specifically for transgenders/other gender communities, in India.
Following Assam, many southern states also launched similar drives and spread awareness for the community, emphasising on their vaccine process.
Many NGOs and social activists also joined hands to encourage the trans community to take vaccine doses, hoping such efforts would increase the number of vaccinated transgender people in India.
Mango News Links:
Telegram: https://t.me/mangonewsofficial
Google Play Store: https://bit.ly/2R4cbgN
Apple / iOS Store: https://apple.co/2xEYFJ
