Gender gap

The National Commission for Women, taking cognisance of a media report which highlights low uptake of COVID-19 jabs among women, has written to Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs urging them to take measures to close the gender gap in vaccination and to ensure that women are not left behind in the vaccination drive. India is currently witnessing one of its largest vaccine rollouts. Yet, even with nearly 50 per cent of the population being vaccinated with at least the first dose, there is a gulf between the number of men and women who have been vaccinated. Out of the 52.2 crore doses administered, about 46 per cent jabs were taken by women. According to reports, the gender gap in Covid vaccination was widest in Jammu and Kashmir where until July 715 per every 1,000 men aged above 18 years had received at least 1 dose as against only 435 every 1,000 women. The gap in immunisation coverage between the two genders is a matter of great concern for the Commission. Chairperson, Rekha Sharma, in the letter, has mentioned that there is an urgent need to increase the proportion of women coming to vaccination booths for receiving the vaccine so that the gap in immunization coverage can be corrected. The letter also mentions that there is also a need to create public health awareness so that more and more women are vaccinated on priority. A copy of the letter has also been sent to Health Secretaries of all the states. The media report had highlighted that the current gender-gap in administering vaccines is significantly more among elderly population than the younger females. It reflects the existing gender stereotypes in the society due to which women are being left behind and the reasons include unequal access to resources and technology for both genders. In the letter, NCW has mentioned that in many households, women’s health is not considered a priority as compared to men if they do not work outside the home and end up getting less preference for vaccination. However, women being the primary care-givers are more likely to get infected while taking care of any sick member of the family. NCW has written that the Centre has been running intensified vaccination drives to reach every nook and cranny of the country along with regular campaigns to dispel misinformation and rumours about any side-effects of the vaccine. The state government should also continue the campaigns so as to ensure correct information reaches to the remotest part of India. The National Commission for Women is the apex national level organisation with the mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of women under the aegis of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. The administration in J&K should take immediate steps to bridge this gap and make sure women too actively participate in the vaccination drives. Timely and complete inoculation is the only way to beat this pandemic.