For as long as Shimray Wungreichon can remember, many of the people in her mountain town had little respect for the work she did.
“A nurse’s job is said to be noble, but in our part of the world it is interpreted differently,” said Wungreichon, a nurse in Ukhrul, a remote town in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. “We are looked down on as a service profession.”
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For as long as Shimray Wungreichon can remember, many of the people in her mountain town had little respect for the work she did.
Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people.
For the first three months, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted.
Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing inoculation program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million other people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.
"As a health worker, this is a time when the world wants us to act,” she said.
An extra face mask hangs by the steering wheel of nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, as she drives home from a day at work at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. For the first three months, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A girl walks in the courtyard of her house, just below the house of Shimray Wungreichon, 43, who works as a nurse in a government hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. This little mountain town has a single 100-bedded government hospital that caters to 180,000 people of the entire district. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, sits by a heater as the only nurse on overnight duty at the emergency ward of District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Wungreichon, who was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, rues about the lack of facilities in the government hospital that caters to a population of around 180,000 people, mostly indigenous Tangkhul Nagas. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, second left, stands in the lawn of the campus where her family lives, along with her husband and three children, a few hours before being administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. For the first three months after the pandemic arrived in her region, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, speaks to colleagues who will administer her the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, looks at the nurse administering her the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. “I am very positive about it," said Wungreichon, a nurse for 14 years who described getting vaccinated as a “normal routine” for her. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A nurse holds up the syringe containing COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to a health worker at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing inoculation program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million other people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurses look at instructions regarding vaccine protocol on a mobile phone after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, smiles into the camera after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Vaccine hesitancy has been a major concern as India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. But Wungreichon is prepared. "As a health worker, this is a time when the world wants us to act,” she said.(AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A hospital employee walks past the gate of the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. This is the only government-run medical facility in the district that caters to a population of 180,000. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign that began Saturday is also being carried out here. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, is reflected on the glass of a booth earlier used for collecting samples to test for COVID-19, at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people. “I am very positive about it," said Wungreichon, a nurse for 14 years who described getting vaccinated as a “normal routine” for her. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
The coronavirus pandemic changed that.
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, right, prepares to administer a shot to a patient at the District Hospital where she is the single nurse on overnight duty at the emergency ward, in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people.
“I am very positive about it," said Wungreichon, a nurse for 14 years who described getting vaccinated as a “normal routine” for her.
The 43-year-old's town escaped the worst of the pandemic, which has ravaged most of the country. But like so many health workers fighting the virus at the forefront, her life was also upended.
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, left, speaks with a doctor at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. “This kind of collective fear has never been seen before. Nobody wants to die,” Wungreichon said talking about the COVID-19 pandemic, while working in the emergency department at the district hospital in Ukhrul, the only government-run medical facility that caters to a population of 180,000. “People have realized that their lives are precious.” (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
For the first three months, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted.
For a time, she even descended into depression and barely slept.
“This kind of collective fear has never been seen before. Nobody wants to die,” Wungreichon said while working in the emergency department at the district hospital in Ukhrul, the only government-run medical facility that caters to a population of 180,000. “People have realized that their lives are precious.”
A man walks past a room where oxygen cylinders are stored at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. This is the only government-run medical facility in the district that caters to a population of 180,000. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign that began Saturday is also being carried out here. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing inoculation program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million other people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.
Health officials haven’t specified what percentage of India's nearly 1.4 billion people will be targeted by the campaign. But experts say it will almost certainly be the largest such drive globally.
Vaccine hesitancy, however, is a major concern. But Wungreichon is prepared.
A Tangkhul Naga girl leaves a temporary kitchen at the COVID Care Center set up for Ukhrul district in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. Nagas are an indigenous people living in several northeastern Indian states and across the border in Myanmar. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
"As a health worker, this is a time when the world wants us to act,” she said.
A girl watches a soccer match early morning in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. This small mountain town escaped the worst of the pandemic, which ravaged most of the country, helped by community efforts to stem the virus. But like elsewhere in the world, life was also upended. India has started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
An extra face mask hangs by the steering wheel of nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, as she drives home from a day at work at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. For the first three months, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A girl walks in the courtyard of her house, just below the house of Shimray Wungreichon, 43, who works as a nurse in a government hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. This little mountain town has a single 100-bedded government hospital that caters to 180,000 people of the entire district. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, sits by a heater as the only nurse on overnight duty at the emergency ward of District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Wungreichon, who was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, rues about the lack of facilities in the government hospital that caters to a population of around 180,000 people, mostly indigenous Tangkhul Nagas. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, second left, stands in the lawn of the campus where her family lives, along with her husband and three children, a few hours before being administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. For the first three months after the pandemic arrived in her region, she couldn’t hug her three children, fearing she could potentially pass the virus to them. Her aged parents were to spend all of 2020 living with her, but it was too risky to live with a nurse so they moved back to their distant home village. And her anxiety spiked with every coronavirus test she conducted. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, speaks to colleagues who will administer her the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, looks at the nurse administering her the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. “I am very positive about it," said Wungreichon, a nurse for 14 years who described getting vaccinated as a “normal routine” for her. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A nurse holds up the syringe containing COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to a health worker at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing inoculation program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million other people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurses look at instructions regarding vaccine protocol on a mobile phone after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Shimray Wungreichon, 43, smiles into the camera after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Vaccine hesitancy has been a major concern as India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway. But Wungreichon is prepared. "As a health worker, this is a time when the world wants us to act,” she said.(AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
A hospital employee walks past the gate of the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. This is the only government-run medical facility in the district that caters to a population of 180,000. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign that began Saturday is also being carried out here. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)
Nurse Shimray Wungreichon, 43, is reflected on the glass of a booth earlier used for collecting samples to test for COVID-19, at the District Hospital in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Wungreichon was among the first of many Indian health workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the pandemic in the world's second hardest-hit country, which has been scarred profoundly by a virus that has killed more than 152,000 of its people. “I am very positive about it," said Wungreichon, a nurse for 14 years who described getting vaccinated as a “normal routine” for her. (AP PhotoYirmiyan Arthur)