people like kumar India Inc. worried. Surrounded by rumours, superstitions and fears, vaccine hesitation is excluding a large segment of the working population from vaccination campaigns. But industry experts said vaccination is key to helping sustain the economic recovery that is underway.
“We are on an overdrive to get all our service professionals vaccinated. But it is always the case that 20% of people suffer from vaccine hesitation,” Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder and CEO of gig marketplace Urban Company, told TOI.
Multiple stores and factory workers in Titan’s jewelery division Tamil Nadu displayed similar behavior. Ajay Chawla, CEO of Titan’s jewelery division, said, “We’ve had two rounds of talks saying they can’t put others at risk and we can’t allow them to be served in-store.”
Companies like Hinduja Global Solutions and Hitachi ABB Power Grid are also facing the same challenge. A survey showed that only 2,500 of the 8,000 former employees were in favor of vaccination. Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) CEO Partha D Sarkar told TOI, “While we have started the vaccination campaign, the hesitation of the vaccine took me by surprise.”
However, companies have taken a carrot-and-stick approach to tackle the problem. While Hinduja Global Solutions has made vaccination mandatory for employees, Hitachi ABB Power Grid is conducting training sessions and workshops for employees to opt for the jab.
Himanshu Bajaj said, “The pandemic has led to a significant increase in demand for e-commerce and to ensure that this opportunity is not missed, it is important for players like Zomato and Flipkart to vaccinate supply chain workers.” , Asia-Pacific Lead, Consumer and Retail at Kearney. “Similarly, a significant impact for consumer-packaged goods players was around supply chain disruption, including manufacturing and distribution, and re-vaccination is critical here.”
A Zomato spokesperson said that it has vaccinated around 63% of its 1.5 lakh delivery force and the company is covering the cost. Flipkart is also offering free ‘doctor on call’ services as well as free vaccines for its frontline workers, while Swiss food and beverage company to shelter Has partnered with local health authorities to set up camps in manufacturing locations and offices.
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