Covid-19: Over 1,000 Chartered Accountants take the jab in Dubai

Dubai - By Friday evening, over 1,000 CAs, along with their families, were done with their first dose of the vaccine, thanks to the massive one-day campaign.

Noticing a sense of hesitation in the chartered accountant community of Dubai to take the Covid vaccine, the managing committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) Dubai Chapter decided to gradually start a social media drive to educate the fraternity about the importance of vaccinating against the deadly virus.

By Friday evening, over 1,000 CAs, along with their families, were done with their first dose of the vaccine, thanks to the massive one-day campaign.

Elaborating on how the huge task was implemented, CA Anish Mehta, chairman of ICAI Dubai Chapter, said: “We were motivated by the government’s vaccination drive and when we saw that over two million doses were already given, we thought why not join this movement. But we realised many from our CA community were not sure if they should take the jab. We then gathered information about the vaccine from doctors and started disseminating the same through messages, circulars, on Whatsapp groups, social media channels and also by word of mouth. We knew we just needed to motivate people to take the first shot and automatically they will come for the second booster dose.”

The efforts bore fruits and Friday saw a huge turnout of 1,025 members who came in batches and as per time slots allocated to them by the ICAI committee.

“On Friday, we conducted a one-day vaccination drive from 10am to 5pm where we partnered with MediQ and Tamouh, who registered and vaccinated the participants in the drive. There was a doctor present for consultation and counselling at the event who answered all possible queries people had about the vaccination and checked their medical history before they took the jab. We booked two big halls at the Grand Excelsior Hotel in Mankhool to see to it that our members, their families and other community members could get the vaccine in a safe and socially distanced environment.”

To ensure the safety of the people and avoid any kind of close contact of people, the organisers sent out a Google form to all the members as well as well-wishers of ICAI Dubai, so the members could register and book a time slot as per their convenience.

“This was done so that members could reach on their selected time and get the shot without having to wait in queues thereby avoiding crowding. Each member was given a time slot of around half-an-hour each and the members came on their allotted timings. People from all age groups thronged the venue and got their vaccination done in an organised manner. We were also happy to see a number of 16 year olds taking the jab (under the supervision of their parents) since the country has lowered the age of those who can take the jab to 16 now,” Mehta pointed out.

Apart from the vaccination of the members, the managing committee also set up free PCR testing facility for whoever wanted to take the test free of cost.

“We will now be organising a similar drive for the second dose of the vaccine —– which mostly should be on February 12 —– which is 21 days after the first dose… While the government is doing a wonderful job and has a target to see at least 50 per cent of the country’s population gets vaccinated by end of March this year, I think it is important to play our part and help it achieve this goal easily by organising such drives,” Mehta underlined.

saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai