We need adaptable and accessible communication strategies to address vaccine hesitancy and vaccine indifference in the most vulnerable sections of our society.

While the  COVID-19 virus has touched every corner of the globe, its impact on the ground has been far from uniform. In developing countries, where over 1 billion people live in slums, factors such as population density and poverty prohibit pandemic-safe behaviours like physical distancing and work-from-home.

In developing countries, the socio-economic effects of the pandemic will be long-lasting, as it has reversed decades of progress in poverty eradication and food security. In India, this is reflected by the 230 million people who have been pushed into extreme poverty since the onset of the pandemic. 

While several pandemic-related challenges, like flattening the curve, have been more difficult in developing nations due to factors like weaker, less resilient infrastructure and healthcare systems, there is one issue that developing and developed nations alike are struggling to overcome: crossing the threshold to achieve complete immunisation against the virus.

While each country faces its own unique set of challenges in procuring and administering COVID-19 vaccines, an overarching hurdle is the need to combat vaccine hesitancy.

The coronavirus has triggered two parallel pandemics: a virus spreading across the globe and an info-demic, spreading across mass media. From innocently misleading to intentionally deceiving, misinformation and disinformation about vaccines are rampant.

India is no exception to this phenomenon. Even though India has seen great successes in the past with nationwide vaccination campaigns to eradicate polio and measles, the rapid spread of unchecked information due to the advent of digital media, has increasingly propagated false information, threatening public health. 

At the root of vaccine-related misinformation lies not only mistrust and fear, but also legitimate questions and doubts. Vaccines are efficient public health tools to reduce disease burden, yet people continue to be