Even small initiatives during a pandemic can help save a thousand lives, these people are doing their bit

• A couple from Chennai has come up with this innovation of a mask vending machine.
• Around two years ago, the couple was working on a similar concept of selling fresh tender coconuts at hospitals, especially to cancer patients but lockdown made their project standstill.
• A doctor couple in Mumbai is collecting unused medicines from recovered people and providing them to needy patients who cannot afford these medicines.

As India is going through one of its worst phases in history, with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic squeezing the country’s health infrastructure and its economy, a few good samaritans have come out to lend a helping hand.

Double masking is the utmost need of the hour and a couple from Chennai has come up with this innovation of a mask vending machine.

Krishna Priyadarshini and Vijayaragavan Visuvamithran unveiled Insta Mask, a vending machine that presses out surgical masks for just ₹5.

This mask vending machine is installed in Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai and has sold over thousands of masks to people in the last couple of weeks. Around 150 masks are reportedly sold each day. The couple who graduated from Anna University in Chennai told The Times of India, “Vending machines are relatively new here, it did take people to get [a] hang of it, but with the help of awareness campaigns, we have sold around 40,000 masks since December 2020.”

Around two years ago, the couple was working on a similar concept of selling fresh tender coconuts at hospitals, especially to cancer patients but lockdown made their project standstill. During the pandemic, the couple decided to channel their energy towards distribution of masks.

Another small initiative started by Dr. Marcus Ranney, founder and chief executive of Human Edge and his wife Dr Raina in Mumbai are worth mentioning. The doctor couple in Mumbai is collecting unused medicines from recovered people and providing them to needy patients who cannot afford these medicines.

The doctor couple started this initiative called “Meds for More” on May 1, this year, when one of their staff members got infected with the virus and needed the medicines. “It is difficult for some people to buy these expensive medicines. We have now 100 buildings that are sending medicines to us. We are a team of eight people and some volunteers in different buildings. Last week we collected 20 kilograms of medicines, which were given to our NGO partners,” the doctor couple told news agency ANI.

The couple is not only providing COVID-19 medicines like Fabiflu, antibiotics, inhalers, steroids etc., but also basic medical equipment like pulse oximeters and thermometers, too.


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