Personally I feel, insuring individuals against COVID-19 or helping people
to get vaccines or sending other supports can be better handled locally by
local affiliates (or local committees as proposed by Tito, whichevers seems
fit) instead of a central organization like WMF. Local affiliates have
better information about the vulnerable section of the community,
government orders concerning the available vaccines, local market value of
insurance premiums, vaccines, disinfectants etc. Sometimes they even have
the money and/or the intention to extend this kind of support too, all they
need is just a permission from the donor i.e. WMF Grants team.
The more I think about this, the more I come to think that we should at
least attempt it.
It might be unusual for a nonprofit to provide this kind of support to its
volunteers, but this is a truly exceptional situation. And while the entire
world is struggling with Covid, the nature of the struggle is deeply
different in most wealthy countries compared to what India is going through
now. And India will probably not be the last nation to see its healthcare
system not just threatened but entirely overwhelmed.
Of course the WMF is not going to be able to start airlifting
Wikimedia-branded vaccines or oxygen supplies, but there must be some form
practical help that can be given to support Wikimedia volunteers.
Regards,
Chris