Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration is all set to kick-start the Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday, days after the Union Territory received the first shipment of 1.46 lakh shots of Covishield.
Commissioner Health and Medical Education Atal Dulloo said they have received almost 1.46 lakh Covishield doses of covid-19 vaccine for Jammu and Kashmir out of which almost 75,000 vaccine doses have been allocated for Kashmir division.
“There are 40 vaccination sites in Jammu and in Kashmir out of which 20 are in Jammu and 20 are in Kashmir,” he said, according to news agency KNO.
Dulloo said the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine will be given to the health workers who have already registered themselves for vaccination, while in the second phase frontline workers will be vaccinated.
Pertinent to mention, over 1.22 lakh people have been infected by the virus in Jammu & Kashmir so far, and 1920 people have died of virus.
Authorities in Kashmir conducted many mock drills in different districts, in preparation for the vaccine rollout to understand the best way to administer the vaccine and plug loopholes in its logistics and training.
State Immunisation Officer, Dr Qazi Haroon said that all arrangements have been put in place and adequate vaccines have been forwarded to all districts to start vaccination on Saturday.
Qazi said that choppers were pressed into service to take vaccines to far off places.
Officials from Jammu division said that they received 67,500 vaccines on Wednesday and accordingly forwarded the vaccines to all the districts.
A top health official from Ladakh said that they received 11,500 doses of Covishield vaccine which were equally distributed between Leh and Kargil districts.
He added that a vaccine will be administered at the primary health centre for which 17 sites in Leh and 23 in Kargil have been created.
Over one crore and 5.27 lakh people have been infected by the virus in India so far, and close to 1.52 lakh deaths reported, the Government of India said around 100 people will receive shots at each of the 3,006 vaccination sites across the country on Saturday.
The first phase of vaccination is likely to be completed in a few months. The vaccines being administered in the first phase will be free.
“The Centre will bear the expenses for vaccinating the 3 crore priority population,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier this week.
PM Modi will launch the Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 at 10:30 am. Around 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 persons will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day.
Dulloo said inauguration ceremonies would be held both in Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
“In Jammu Government Medical College, Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha will be present while at SKIMS Hospital, Soura, in Srinagar, Advisor to LG Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar will inaugurate the proceedings,” Dulloo said.
Jammu and Kashmir received the first shipment of 1.46 lakh Covishield doses developed by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford, manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).
Div Com Delivers Vaccine In Gurez
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, PK Pole on Friday visited snowbound Gurez Valley for two day marathon camp to deliver COVID-19 vaccine and also to have first-hand appraisal of winter preparedness and snow clearance efforts.
Pole was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad.
As per the official spokesperson, the vaccines were handed over to the concerned health officers to be dispatched to the vaccination centres. He said Divisional Commissioner also conducted a meeting to review the functioning of all the departments of Sub-Division Gurez and took stock of the snow clearance operations, winter preparedness, development works, welfare schemes and work culture in the offices.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Gurez Dr Mudasir Wani gave a brief about the functioning of the departments and highlighted the achievements and target of various departments.
“Div Com discussed the facilities provided by the health department and gave directions to the health authorities to airlift pregnant ladies before their date of delivery as the valley remains cut off from the rest of the UT owing to heavy snowfall,” the official spokesperson said.
The meeting, he said, also discussed arrangements made regarding roll-out of vaccination in the Gurez Valley. The DC, he said, informed the Div Com that they are chalking out a special vaccination plan for this subdivision keeping in view the adverse weather conditions of this region.
Covid-19: 5 Deaths Reported in J&K
Meanwhile Jammu and Kashmir on Friday reported five more coronavirus deaths, including two middle-aged women, even as 144 fresh cases were detected across the region during the last 24 hours.
Among the victims, officials said, three were from Jammu division and two from the Valley— a 55-year-old woman from Kulgam and a 50-year from Beerwah in Budgam district.
The victims from Jammu division included a 75-year-old man from Gadigarh, a 67-year-old man from Jourian and a 65-year-old man from Kathua. So far, 1920 people have succumbed to the virus in J&K— 1205 in the Valley and 715 in Jammu region.
Srinagar district with 453 deaths tops the list followed by Jammu (367), Baramulla (172), Budgam (114), Kupwara (94), Pulwama (88), Anantnag (84), Doda (64), Bandipora (61), Udhampur (57), Kulgam (54), Rajouri (55), Kathua (51), Ganderbal (46), Shopian (39), Samba (39), Poonch (24), Ramban (21), Kishtwar(22), and Reasi (15).
Meanwhile, eighteen travellers and a CRPF man were among 144 fresh coronavirus cases reported across J&K in the last 24 hours.
Also, the two persons who had flown into Kashmir Valley earlier this month and were found positive for Covid-19 have tested negative for the UK strain of the virus.
“Their samples were sent outside for testing recently and both have tested negative for new UK strain but are ‘normal’ Covid positive,” an official said.
Giving district-wise details, the officials said, Srinagar reported 40, Baramulla 2, Budgam 2, Pulwama 3, Kupwara 3, Anantnag 6, Bandipora 2, Ganderbal 10, Kulgam 3, Shopian 9, Jammu 46, Udhampur 2, Kathua 1, Samba 9, Poonch 1 and Ramban 5 new cases of Covid-19.
Moreover 179 more patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals—111 from Jammu Division and 68 from Kashmir Valley. The number of active cases has reduced to 1428 in J&K. (With GNS inputs)
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
