Human-centred deep-dive with our first super user
Langphong is a super-user, he has travelled across 37 villages in Mon district last month. We got in touch with Langphong through our friends at YouthNet - a non-profit organization working with youth in Nagaland. Within the first ten minutes of our chat, which was conducted remotely via video calling, Langphong described four types of vaccine hesitant user groups he met across the villages he had recently travelled.
People who took first dose, but refusing the second - due to post vaccination side effects from the first dose, many people now believe that vaccine makes you sick
Religious beliefs trump scientific reasoning - while many church leaders are encouraging people to take vaccines, there are certain church and faith based organisations which are saying that vaccine is '666' - an incarnation of evil and it is influencing their members to not take the vaccine
Educated logicians - many people with formal education agree that Covid-19 exists, vaccines have been developed, but they are not 100% effective. They feel that if they go through the hassle of taking two vaccine doses and it’s side-effects, but still not have 100% protection and live in fear of the virus, then why take the vaccine as without it also they are living in fear of the virus
Mis-information is the new fact - Most detrimental and common rumour is that vaccine kills people - and in xx village someone died after vaccine - spreads like wildfire OR corona doesn't exist, it is all made up etc.
Langphong helped us understand that many usual issues to accessing vaccination were a non-issue in Mon context and vaccine hesitancy is key issue.
Transport is a non-issue - easily available and affordable by most poor ; also the administration has arranged for sub-centres to have vaccine availability and also do travelling camps
Availability is a non-issue - you just go and get it, never even heard rumours that someone wanted vaccine and didn't get it - if they want it, they get it
Booking slots is a non-issue - just give name to village leads and they will take care - digital access is not needed
“It is boiling down to people not wanting to take vaccines - if that behaviour switches - vaccination in Mon will be a success. If you want a vaccine you can get it in Mon.”
Based on his understanding of Mon and interactions with various stakeholders in the vaccination ecosystem, Langphong helped us identify key influencers for Covid-19 vaccination:
Healthcare staff and officials
Pastors and religious institutions
District administration officials
Social media like Youtube/WhatsApp etc.
Our first in-depth conversation with Langphong, helped us immediately deep-dive into hyperlocal nuances in Mon context and provided us the much needed impetus to propel our project work.
Authored by: Prerak Mehta, Director of Design, Dalberg