India has faced devastating effects in the second COVID wave with an average of 0.3 million new infections over 24 hours as the total infection numbers crossed 17 million. The most affected in this scenario were the marginalized families, who were unable to access the correct information pertaining to the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and medicines. Another area of struggle and doubt has been getting vaccinated. There have been various myths around vaccinations, which are creating fear against vaccination among people.

To counter this challenge and respond to the marginalized, Caritas India along with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) launched the Risk Communication Community Engagement (RCCE) Program on 26^th July 2021. The RCCE program shall be focussing on:

1. New symptoms of COCID 19 and Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB)
2. Timely testing for COVID and starting treatment from a qualified doctor, avoid self-medication or relying on local unqualified practitioners
3. Warning signs when one need to seek hospital care, the significance of accessing information from reliable source because much misleading information is afloat over social media. 
4. Vaccine ‘hesitancy’ that arises because of apprehensions around vaccine safety, efficacy; and any other myths and misconceptions. Therefore, community engagement to build trust in vaccines would be crucial next steps in prevention.

The virtual launch program saw a participation of around 170 participants comprising of Regional Chairman Bishops from 14 ecclesiastical regions of CBCI and Diocesan directors of all partner organisations of Caritas India. His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracious, Chairman CBCI and Caritas India and graced the occasion being the chief guest for the program. In his inaugural address, he emphasized being aware of the effect of the second wave and urged everyone to be prepared for the third wave. As between the two waves, the breathing space should be utilized to spread the correct information regarding COVID. As he inaugurated the program, he thanked Caritas India management and the team for having thought of a new way out to address the pandemic.

In the special address by Most Rev Sebastian Kallupura, Archbishop of Patna, Chairman Caritas India, stressed that the country is not only fighting against the pandemic. It is fighting against the info-demic as well which reflects in its vaccination drive. ‘Vaccine Hesitancy’ has speed-bumped India’s inoculation drive. He emphasized the few steps which the Church could take i.e. to engage the Caritas Samaritan Army, engage church leaders, and ensuring the registration of volunteers for a sustained relationship with volunteers. He also highlighted that adopting such unique models at local levels across India could increase vaccine coverage.

Fr Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India while setting the context of the meeting shared the philosophy behind the program and mentioned the reach of Caritas India in the second wave of COVID response. He reiterated that “the focus of RCCE is to reach out to millions of people through the participation of regional forums and engaging the diocesan systems of Caritas India, most importantly reaching out to the communities through the instrumentality of Caritas Volunteers i.e. Caritas Samaritans. The Samaritans shall also be countering the digital divide which has been created in the communities due to the rise of the virtual or digital world”. Mr Senthil Kumar, Executive Director, CRS in his speech spoke about the program overview of RCCE emphasizing the different partnerships in the form of Caritas India, Regional Forums, Diocesan Partners, and volunteers being undertaken through this initiative. As a response to the sharing Most Rev Gerald Almeda, Bishop of Jabalpur, and Chairman Bishop of MP Forum shared his view on behalf of Forum Chairman Bishops by expressing the happiness of initiating the program as it will have great reach and create a larger impact. Rev Fr Albert, Forum Director, TASSOS shared his views on behalf of all forum directors on the uniqueness of the program as the number of people being reached is large through a large number of volunteers.

The program concluded with the open forum session wherein queries raised by the forum directors were answered jointly by Caritas India and CRS.