10,000 Hairstylists, Beauticians And Salon Staff Across India To Get COVID-19 Vaccination By Godrej Professional

Godrej Professional, a professional brand with products across hair colour, care, styling and keratin from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), announced Suraksha Salon 2.0, an industry-first initiative focussing on the health, wellness and protection of salon community. In its first edition introduced in 2020, Suraksha Salon focussed on helping salon community with necessary hygiene solutions, education on safety and hygiene for salon infrastructure and services, and back-to-business support.

Through Suraksha Salon 2.0, Godrej Professional will be providing priority vaccination to 10,000 hairstylists, beauticians and salon staff across India. They need to register on www.cowin.gov.in and follow the Godrej Professional Instagram handle to get updates about the drive in their respective cities. The Instagram handle shares city specific links for the drives, to sign up. Post sharing details, the team at Godrej Professional will get in touch in person to verify and share the vaccination slots. Suraksha Salon 2.0 will provide all the necessary guidance, resources and updates to salon owners to ensure safety and well-being of their staff and customers. This free of cost vaccination drive will be conducted by Godrej Professional across cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Ludhiana. This initiative will be further expanded to more cities.

Speaking about the initiative, Sunil Kataria CEO – India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), said, “Godrej Professional is committed to empower and uplift the Indian salon industry. After a strong outreach of Suraksha Salon last year, the second edition encourages the salon community to get vaccinated and provide them the necessary mental support. COVID-19 has already heavily impacted the salon industry leading to a complete halt of operations for over five months during the first wave of the pandemic.  The second ongoing wave made it more difficult for salons as this also led to complete shutdown. Hairstylists, beauticians and salon staff work in close proximity with their clients and it becomes critical for this workforce to be vaccinated at the earliest. Vaccination will not only make sure they are safe but are also empowered to return to their work as soon as salons are opening up.”

Appreciating the initiative, Vikram Bhatt, Founder, Enrich Salon, said, “Firstly, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for Godrej Professional to come up with such a great initiative for the hair & beauty industry - It will go a long way. Registration was done flawlessly and slots were allocated with personal messages to individuals. On the day of vaccination everything was well organised. Right from the senior members in the team to the one volunteering at the venue, all were hands-on and helping every possible way. Would like to make a special mention to the backend team who were proactive and ensuring we utilize all the slots effectively.”

“Godrej Professional Suraksha Salon Program is a great initiative supporting the salon industry during these testing times. Along with other activities, priority vaccination is a remarkable step taken as part of the program. This is very important as salons are opening up again and the salon professionals working in them will need protection against the virus. This also ensures customers who visit the salon are safe as well”, added, S Arvind kumar, VP - Operations (AP/ Orissa and Telangana, Naturals Salon & Spa.

Godrej Professional has also partnered with Fortis Hospitals Mumbai for a dedicated helpline – 6366528566, which will provide free guidance for all coronavirus related queries. Additionally, live sessions will be conducted by Dr Manjeet Singh Arora, Consultant-General Medicine & Community Health Expert, Fortis Hospital, Mulund; Dr Rajesh Parikh, neuropsychiatrist and the author of the first book on vaccine ‘The Vaccine Book‘; & Director of Medical Research, Jaslok Hospital on myth busting, guide to vaccination and other COVID-19 related issues to spread awareness and curb misinformation.

Godrej Professional also tied up with Mindhouse-who are building the World's Largest Wellness Platform, to conduct mental wellness programme for the salon professionals.

The first edition of Suraksha Salon saw Godrej Professional supporting 10,000+ salons, donating 15,000 litres of sanitizers and 10,000 re-usable masks to stylists. In addition, Godrej Professional supported salons with disposable kits as well. ‘Suraksha Guidelines’, a comprehensive module on safety and hygiene, were curated by health experts for the safety of the salon community. The guidelines covered all aspects including salon sanitization, employee safety, client safety, hair services, and skin and make-up services. The whitepaper is available in English, Hindi and 7 regional languages such Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali for salon owners and stylists across all parts of the country to easily understand.