Madhya Pradesh cops’ vaccine push: Honoured with badges, shamed by posters

The Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Madhya Pradesh’s Niwari district has received a helping hand from its police force, who have worked out a novel way to encourage citizens to take the jab through a carrot-and-stick initiative.

Police personnel in the district have been seen in a video, tweeted by news agency ANI, pinning badges of commendation that read “I'm a patriot as I'm vaccinated” on motorists who have taken the vaccine. Those that hadn’t got a shot yet, on the other hand, received a poster with a skull printed on it that said: “Stay away from me, I have not taken my Covid shot yet”.

“We’re felicitating those who have got the vaccine and asking those who haven’t yet to get one,” police personnel can be heard telling a commuter in the video. "Tell people I have been vaccinated, which is why I have been felicitated."

A policeman in the video can also be heard telling another man that he should be somewhat “ashamed” for not getting a shot yet.

Several people on the Twitter thread pointed out that the tactic may not be appropriate, given that much of the country still faces a vaccine crunch. Some highlighted missteps in the state government’s vaccination policy, while others pointed out that the lack of vaccines disproportionately affected the poor and underprivileged and such acts only served to “humiliate” people.

Madhya Pradesh currently sits at seventh spot in terms of total doses administered, having handed out 1.35 crore single doses. However, of the state’s 52 districts, urban centres of Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior account for almost a quarter of all doses administered so far. Meanwhile, only 2.6 per cent of the state’s population has received a second dose, which lags the country’s second-dose cover of 3.5 per cent.