As the second wave of the pandemic raged on in India, vaccines emerged as a ray of hope and an essential line of defense in the fight against COVID-19. However, with logistical challenges and uncertainties around supplies of vaccines, employees and their dependents were concerned, especially those with senior citizens and family members with comorbidities.
At PayPal, our endeavour has been to introduce policies and launch initiatives to help employees and ensure their well-being.
Commitment towards employee safety and well-being
In an effort to help address these concerns, a team of PayPal Super Heroes* across the HR, advocacy, admin, communications, facilities, business operations, site leads, and security teams joined forces to identify possible solutions. They worked with hospitals and healthcare providers to set up onsite and offsite vaccination drives for eligible employees and their dependents.
For employees who were in remote locations outside of where the offices are located, we even took a step ahead and partnered with leading hospital chains to arrange for vaccination facilities.
PayPal is among the first few corporates in India to plan and execute vaccination drives across the country.
A purpose-driven mission towards fighting the pandemic
We flagged off the initiative with 2 onsite drives that were organized in Chennai and Bangalore and a series of offsite drives with leading private healthcare partners including Apollo Hospital, Manipal Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital, Max Hospital etc. among others. The offsite drives allowed the employees options to choose where they wanted to get vaccinated, depending on their convenience. The drives were open for employees as well as their families.
The organizing team members had invested quality time and effort to ensure seamless execution of the drives. A simple and effective registration tool was developed, allowing employees to choose elements such as preferred location, convenient time slot etc. This was followed up with regular and timely communication to ensure that employees were kept updated on their appointments.
The facilities and security teams worked relentlessly to ensure that on-ground arrangements were made in accordance with government regulations to ensure safety of the employees and their family members.
To date, 12 + drives have been organized through which over 2200 of employees, dependents and frontline teams have been inoculated. Our impeccable arrangements were lauded by healthcare providers as we were among the first few companies in India to meticulously plan and execute multiple such vaccination drives across the country.
While the vaccine availability has improved across the country, our teams are still working hard to expand partnerships to more cities and offer the facility to employees.
*We saw heroism and ingenuity from many members of our own PayPal family. As a tribute to them, PayPal’s Super Heroes series will acknowledge and feature those who selflessly stepped forward to offer their skills and time during COVID-19 to help their communities.