Referring to vaccine hesitancy, Nisha Devi, an an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, at Baghpat district’s Dhanaura Silver Nagar, said, “Some people are still there, who don’t want to get it done. They told me, ‘Modiji has given us the wrong medicine, and he sold off the original. He has filled water in this and given us.’”
On 16 April, the Uttar Pradesh government shut down the outpatient department (OPD) at all primary health centres (PHCs) to prevent an increase in COVID-19 infections due to congestion. The staff were deployed to other larger district-level COVID facilities.
In the absence of outpatient care at PHCs, unlicensed medical practitioners, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, along with the Medical Officer (MO) at the PHC were left to manage the devastating second wave of the virus in Baghpat district’s Dhanaura Silvernagar village on their own.