LET’S CHECK OUT HOW VACCINES SLAY COVID!

India has started one of the biggest vaccine drives around the world considering its large population, now we certainly have some common questions in mind about the vaccination process and the vaccines. We have heard rumours and a lot of information has been flowing in. But we need to only focus on the facts and the most important thing, GET VACCINATED! 

OR

“I’ll look for you, I’ll find you and I will vaccinate you.”

Yes, one thing is very clear that we need vaccines. There is no doubt or question about the need to get vaccinated. Now the doubts about the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine are what has been making people hesitant about it. So before that, quick FYI, The dictionary meanings of these terms are different from the way they are used in scientific discourse. 

Yes, efficacy and effectiveness are different terms here.

Efficacy - the ability of something like a drug or a medical treatment to bring about the results that are wanted.

Effectiveness - how well a particular treatment or drug works when people are using it, as opposed to how well it works under carefully controlled scientific testing conditions

There are some dissimilarities and benefits that peg the vaccines apart, but they work with the same objective in mind: to protect you from COVID-19. Covishield or the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab remains to be the popular choice, used in maximum countries. Covaxin, on the other hand, is now considered one of the most effective and tolerant vaccines against mutant strains.

But, do the differences make one better than the other?

Now all of this might be a little too much sci-fi for us to understand but the most basic way all the vaccines work is - after being vaccinated, the body starts to produce antibodies especially tailored to the coronavirus.

This means that the immune system is primed to fight coronavirus when it encounters it for real.

Your immune system after the vaccine - Grooooott!

1. Head over to the CoWIN website, and click on the option to register/sign in yourself.
2. Put your mobile number and submit to get an OTP. On receiving the OTP, input it to verify.
3. Now you can register four people for vaccination. Now, insert all the details — your name, gender, year of birth, and photo ID proof, and then click on register.
4. Upon registering you will get the option to schedule an appointment. Next to the registered person’s name click on the option of schedule.
5. Insert your pin code and it will display all the centers where vaccination is on in the pin code area inserted by you.
6. You can then select the center, date, and time of vaccination and click to confirm. This way you can register yourself and your beneficiaries for the vaccination.

1. Open the Aarogya Setu app and click on the CoWIN tab.
2. Select the vaccination registration, and input your phone number, and submit to get an OTP.
3. Insert the OTP and verify. This will navigate you to the page where registration for vaccination can be done.
4. Follow the same steps as mentioned above for registering on the CoWIN platform.

• you can CLICK HERE to go to the website and put in your pin code, choose your area where you want to find a slot, and when next time a slot is open you will be notified on the mail or WhatsApp about the slot.
• Some more websites like these are GetJab and Under45, which provide district-wise updates on vacant vaccine slots via mail and telegram channels.
• You can also join telegram channels that might help you look for slots.
• Paytm has also integrated a vaccine finder in its mobile application.
• Vaccine slots are usually added between 6 PM and 11 PM every day. It is advised to keep a tab on the CoWin portal during that time. 

• Cases have been reported of people affected with COVID-19 as well as healthcare workers, sanitary workers and police who are in the frontline for management of the outbreak, facing discrimination on account of heightened fear and misinformation about infection. 
• Even those who have recovered from COVID-19 face such discrimination.
• Certain communities and areas are being labeled purely based on false reports floating on social media

• People worrying about being shunned and less likely to get tested or seek medical care, increasing infection risks for them and others.
• This undermines efforts to test for and treat disease.
• Discourage them from adopting healthy behaviors
• It can make people feel isolated and even abandoned. This can result in the social isolation of groups of people in fear of getting covid.
• Stigmatized groups may often be deprived of the resources they need to care for themselves and their families during a pandemic.

• Keep your facts in check from reputable sources
• Don’t forward any messages on social media before checking the authenticity
• Speak up and correct people if they are misinformed 
• Show support for the frontline workers and help them whenever possible
• Share positive stories of those who have recovered from COVID-19.

• Video call your family and friends
• Listen to music
• Dance wildly to the tune with your family or friends on a video call
• Play games - from ludo to monopoly to Call of duty or FIFA, Whatever you like
• Binge-watch those shows you like (27th May, FRIENDS Re-union, Don’t Forget) :P
• Watch Stand-ups. Some personal recs are - Abhinav Bassi, Abhishek Upmanyu (Han bhai swaad agaye), Biswa Kalyan Rath, Kenny Sebastin, Gaurav Kapoor.
• Listen to some podcasts
• Start new hobbies - gardening, reading, painting, cooking - and a lot more
• Learn a new skill

Let’s start on a POSITIVE note!

We are all in this together and we will get through this together! - A true ARManion

Some of us are still not sleeping well, sanitisers are making our hands dry, and our brains are foggy from reading too much about covid-19. It is okay to feel overwhelmed but it's also important to pause for a moment and collect your thoughts.

Taking care of yourself is important so you are equipped to help your family through this time.

We are here to talk about how you can help yourself and your family during these difficult times to recover mentally and physically. We won’t say it’s going to be easy but we can make it happen by our willingness to move forward and #StayPositive.

A FEW FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO MENTAL HEALTH DIFFICULTIES DURING PANDEMIC (CHINA VIRUS)

• Loneliness and Isolation during quarantine.  
• Financial problems due to long medical bills  
• Difficulty working due to fatigue or loss of focus.  
• Grief due to the loss of a family member or close friends.  
• Disruption to routines and anchors caused by lockdowns and restrictions  

How can you overcome them?

1. Be Patient: The key here is to pull yourself together and stay strong mentally! Take each day as it comes with patience and just as Dory said...
2. OTTs to the rescue: If you are home quarantined and isolated, boredom can strike very quickly. Use this time to watch all those binge-worthy shows/movies you always wanted to watch, but make sure you rest more!

3. Talk to your friends/family/peers: Communication is key! Stay connected with your loved ones virtually and keep checking on them every now and then. The sense of togetherness will give a massive boost to your mental health. 

Hum Saath Saath hain cues in

4. Workplace-related stress: You need to build resilience and manage job stress. Identify things that cause stress and work together with co-workers, supervisors to identify solutions. Increase your sense of control by developing a consistent daily routine when possible — ideally, one that is similar to your schedule before the pandemic.

5. Seek social support: “Empathy” is the key here. Losing someone can be devastating and not something one should go through on their own. You will find it helpful to work with a peer-support group, either in person or online. 

HOW TO GET BACK ON FEET AND GET BETTER, POST-COVID?

First and Foremost REST!

Yes, we know you’ve had to rest a lot but you need more, in between daily tasks your body needs enough opportunity to recover. Get enough sleep because that will speed up the recovery procedure. Focus on healing.

Focus on alarming signals

Monitor your symptoms closely by checking blood pressure, sugar levels, etc on a regular basis and monitoring them. If you notice a pestering headache or fatigue, check with your physician.

Take your time 

Give yourself some time to slowly adjust to your old routine, taking one day at a time. Don’t exert yourself by doing too much work. Keep it slow and take rest at regular intervals so that you give your body ample time to adjust back to its normal routine.

Take a nutritious diet 

The most common practice to lead a healthy life that we all know but don’t follow is to better our diet. Include high protein and fibers in your diet with eggs “cause sunday ho ya monday roz khao Anday”, at least 1 fruit a day, nutritious veggies, and safe poultry to compensate for the lost appetite.

Avoid binging on junk foods for a while.

Healthy Gut, Healthy Mind!

Some exercise for your brain 

Exercising your brain is what’s going to help you gradually get back your concentration levels on track. Invest some time in solving puzzles, memory games, and activities that make you think harder. A little KBC might help. haainnnn!!!!

After Brain comes Muscles 

Gradually including light exercises in your everyday schedule will make you both physically and mentally healthy. Walking, light yoga, breathing exercises, etc. will help you gain strength and endurance back.

Just make sure you exercise in a socially distanced environment and open areas.     

Follow this link for more information on exercises and how to take care of your heart and lungs: Click here

HOW LONG DOES ONE NEED TO RECOVER AND WHEN TO TAKE A VACCINE POST COVID?

Now, the big question which everyone is asking. 

When and which vaccine should I take?

The answer is rather simple. Have a look:

For people who have contracted the disease after the first dose

• It is advised to wait for at least two to six weeks to take your second dose post-recovery. 

For people who have contracted the disease and have not got the first dose

• You should wait 90 days as there are already antibodies in the immune system, which means you will not be able to develop a robust immune response to the vaccine.

But when you are ready for the vaccine you would have already seen your friends, relatives, or acquaintances receiving their COVID vaccine, but you have also heard of side effects such as fever, body aches, headaches, and more. While the side effects may sound scary, it does not mean that you have to suffer through them to a full extent. There’s always a doctor who will give medicines and multivitamins to cope with this, so don’t be afraid and

 “chal beta vaccine le le ree”. 

So if you are ready to roll and get your jab let’s find you a slot by clicking here.

Which Vaccine should you go for? COVAXIN or COVISHIELD

Well, in the present context, it is safe to say that ‘Jo mile wo lagwa lo’ 

As per the leading medical portals and doctors, both vaccines are equally safe when it comes to building immunity. There’s however a slight difference in their efficacy rates which is actually marginal. 

(Note: Please check with your physician if you or any of your family members have any underlying body conditions which can pose complications before going for the vaccination)

Both will have their fair share of side effects which you will experience like fever, body pain, malaise, fatigue to name a few. These effects can last up to 24-48 hours ideally but can vary depending on body type.

You can read the below PDFs or watch the video to get details about the vaccines: 

https://www.seruminstitute.com/pdf/covishield_fact_sheet.pdf

When can kids get their vaccine shots?

The immune system in children could vary greatly depending on age. A 6-year-old will have a very different immunity than a 16-year-old. Medical trials for vaccines involving children usually undergo stricter protocols than involving adults. Some pharma companies have already started trials for these vaccines and we will soon have them.

** Check out these links from WHO and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for more insights.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/support-for-rehabilitation-self-management-after-covid-19-related-illness

https://www.mohfw.gov.in/

Elevate your CRM Platform

Effective Segmentation of Contacts

Trigger Dynamic Workflow Processes

Nurture Through Lead Scoring

Recover Abandoned Carts Losses

Refine Media Strategies

Prioritise Plans for Video Advertising

Deploy Programmatic Advertising 

Practice Moment Marketing

Optimise Revenue-driven KPIs

Declutter your Website

Provide Stellar Customer Experience

Plan for SEO before Launching  

Produce Omnichannel Capabilities

Experiment & Evaluate

In the process of acquiring new customers, retaining them sometimes takes a backseat. Studies have shown that retaining customers costs seven times lesser than acquiring a new one. To prevent such situations, businesses have to focus on extending their customers’ lifetime with their brands, a.k.a., customer retention. They have to keep giving their audience opportunities to  hold onto so that they do not think about switching to other brands or products.

Retention can help boost revenues significantly as  customers trust the brand and keep coming back to it for repeat purchases. To help you out, here are five plans of action that will help keep your audience hooked - 

Cultivate your Listening Skills

Businesses should focus on becoming active listeners as this helps in enhancing their customers’ overall social experience. To do the same, a social listening software can be employed wherein listening alerts can be set up to understand customer queries better. It can also be used to give product/service information. This makes two-communication much faster, and the customer feels acknowledged.

Several kinds of social listening tools can be used to open potential windows for link building by digging up unlinked product/brand mentions. Also, by using different active listening approaches, businesses can identify customer pain points and design compelling offers to engage and retain them in the future.

Infer engagement Analytics

Businesses can find out a lot about their customer by analysing their online behaviour on social media platforms, as they offer better insights into the customer’s life and choices. They can interact with their customers on social media platforms like Snapchat and Twitter as it will help them create an in-depth user experience via hyper-personalisation.

Tools like Instagram Insights or Facebook Analytics can be utilised to keep a real-time track of activity duration, online purchases, customer demographics, and content statistics. Furthermore, analytics can be divided into separate categories like prescriptive, descriptive, predictive, diagnostic, and consumption to have a more streamlined content creation approach. This way, personalised content can be used to engage the customers.

Upscale your CRM game

Businesses must have a  good CRM game-plan as that can be a huge selling point. It genuinely helps with customer retention and also creates a huge window for building long-term relationships. Brands can open support accounts across all kinds of social media platforms to actively interact with their customers, boost brand health, and reduce customer dissatisfaction.

To take it a step further, well-segmented community-specific groups can be created on social media pages that can employ customers as brand ambassadors. This will have a powerful impact on purchase decisions and bring positive results. Additionally, there is an option for ‘Profile Enrichment Services.’ This can be employed to get better information about customers, complete their profiles, and address their actual needs. 

Incentivise Incessantly to boost ROI

Businesses should always ensure that they provide incentives to their customers as this will kickstart a cycle of giving and receiving, which will help boost sales and increase ROI. There should keep an active lookout for brand advocates across platforms so that incentives and rewards can be given to them to ensure a lasting relationship.

Marketing gimmicks like ‘irresistible offers’ can be used to ensure that customers do not switch brands and continue to be loyal to the business’s products and services. A thorough analysis of customers’ social media profiles should be done to maintain the correct timing and tonality of sending out incentives as this will impact CTRs significantly.

Automate to be efficient

Businesses should make an active habit of using automated systems and scheduling tools to ensure flexibility of posting content and information. Today, customers are more into raising queries on social media platforms rather than calling on customer service numbers. Automation will address their issues in real-time and keep them interested.

Social media scheduling tools like Buffer, Taggbox Commerce, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and many more can be used to track UGC, competitors, content, and optimisation. Also, businesses can invest in marketing automation software as it will allow them to have a clear insight into the customer journey and help develop customised deals to keep them coming back for more purchases.

Customer retention is not something that can be achieved overnight. It takes consistent dedication and time to get to that point wherein your customers will return to your business for more. You need to have some plans or strategies in place so that you can give them the incentive to do so - like finding ways to delight them, improving their experience, giving them discount offers, and making them realise that your business enjoys and appreciates their goodwill and support. The more consistent your efforts are, higher will be the retention!