Images News Netwok

LG inaugurates vaccination drive for J&K

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

Cautions people against rumours over vaccination

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who attended a virtual programme of the vaccine launch by Prime Minister Modi, also inaugurated and witnessed the administering of the first dose of the vaccine to a sanitation in-charge at Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu.

Terming the occasion as a historic day in the fight against COVID pandemic, LG said he was delighted that the wait for this much-awaited vaccine has finally come to an end. He also cautioned people against rumour mongers spreading lies about COVID-19 vaccine even as the administration said it is fully prepared to ensure a successful inoculation drive in the union territory.

The coronavirus vaccination drive started at 40 centres across Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday where healthcare workers were administered jabs.

The UT had received the first batch of 1,46,500 doses of Covishield vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, Pune. While 79,000 doses will be administered in the Kashmir division, 67,500 jabs will be given in the Jammu division.

“Today is a decisive day in the fight against the pandemic… It is a day of pride for the country but we need to remain cautious against those who are out to spread rumours about the vaccine,” Sinha said as he rolled out the vaccination drive from Government Medical College (GMC) hospital here.

He asked people not to pay any heed to the rumours with regard to the efficacy of the drug and asked his administration to start a publicity campaign to reach out to the people.

The LG saluted the COVID warriors and said their dedication and self-less service helped the people to overcome this challenge.

“When pre- and post-pandemic history will be written, your contribution will be written in golden words,” he said, adding, “we are fully prepared to ensure a successful vaccination drive”.

Sinha, however, asked people not to let down the guard for at least 45 days after getting vaccinated.

While giving details about the vaccination programme, LG said the government has identified 1294 private and 1177 government facilities along with 5400 vaccinators and 14,481 potential vaccinators across J&K. Besides, he said maintaining harmonized protocol, training, data management system, divisional and district level control rooms, call centers, the administration has also conducted two dry runs of COVID vaccine and 1053 session sites have also been identified for the smooth vaccination process.

Giving further details about the vaccination drive, he said that in J&K, 28 lakh have been identified who will be given COVID vaccine in the first and second phase on priority.

Lauding the efforts of corona warriors, frontline workers, and other stakeholders, he appreciated their dedication and professional work ethics during the management of COVID-19 pandemic, and thanked them for braving difficult situations by endangering their own lives to save others’.

He said due to the untiring efforts of healthcare workers, J&K has performed better than many states and UTs of the country in terms of Covid management.

While complimenting the health workers, he said that a year ago, the scenario was different but today the situation is different as it is now, primarily due to the tireless efforts of COVID-19 warriors, more particularly that of medics and paramedics that gave us the breather.

He observed that JK has only 2041 active cases with a recovery rate of 96.80 percent due to the dedication and hard work of health care workers.

He also thanked the people for their patience and said they extended great cooperation with administration during lockdown, resulting in preventing the spread of the pandemic to a large extent.

Terming the testing as a game-changer, LG maintained that both tracing and testing were pivotal in restricting the spread, besides it also provided us an opportunity to enhance our capacity in the health sector exponentially.

He said that through 100 percent testing of inhabitants in containment zones, Swasthaya Nidhi app, intensive door-to-door health-care survey, 24×7 call centres, and Sero-Survey, J&K contained the Coronavirus decisively.

“Today when we are beginning the vaccination drive, it is important to mention here that from one testing lab, we have established infrastructure of 11 labs authorized by ICMR, 17 dedicated COVID hospitals, 5708 oxygen supported beds along with more than one crore reusable masks, 942 ventilators, and 442 ICU beds,” LG said.

He said that indomitable will, better medical infrastructure, and a dedicated team helped to fight against the pandemic and saved many lives. The dedication exhibited during the last 10 months by healthcare workers and people alike is worth praising.

With dedicated Covid hospitals, testing labs, machinery, equipment, oxygen generation facilities, ventilators, healthcare facilities reached pinnacle as never seen before, LG maintained.

“I heartily thank the Hon’ble Prime Minister and extend best wishes to my team on the launch of this historic and largest vaccination drive dedicated to the service of mankind,” he said.

Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam, in his address, expressed hope that the country will be free of pandemic within the next three to four months.

“As far as J&K is concerned, we have put in place an impressive strategy to deal with the virus and are ready for the vaccination drive. In fact, we have developed the capability of administering five lakh vaccines per day,” he said as he praised the frontier warriors for their contribution in the fight against the infection.

Earlier, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo said the vaccination is being done in phases with the first phase covering healthcare workers numbering 1.6 lakh.

In the second phase, he said, seven lakh frontline workers including security forces, paramilitary forces,  police, municipality workers and revenue department officials who were involved in surveillance and contact tracing will be covered, while 50 plus population or those less than 50 years but suffering from co-morbidities will be covered in the third phase.

“We are following the election booth management strategy where vaccination site wise management is being planned meticulously. The beneficiary will get SMS about the session, date and time with regard to both the doses and will be handed over a certificate,” he said.

Dulloo said the drive was simultaneously started at 40 locations across the J&K and the number of centres would be gradually increased.

“Each vaccination site and in each session, 100 people will be vaccinated. We are ready with 1,053 vaccination sites which will be made operational when needed,” he said.

“Our cold chain equipment is available at all places, we have conducted dry run and also completed the necessary training well in advance to be part of the biggest vaccination drive in the world.”

Referring to the effort of the government to tackle the pandemic, he said almost every third person in the Union Territory has been tested since the outbreak of the novel disease.

“We are conducting 25,000 to 30,000 tests on a daily basis while RTPCR tests have also been started in remote medical colleges like GMC Doda. We have a total of 1.22 lakh positive cases, of which 97 percent have recovered while the active positive cases dropped to 1,500 at present,” he said.

He said over 1,900 COVID-related deaths have occurred in J&K, a mortality rate of 1.5 percent which is almost equal to the national average.

LG’s advisor initiates COVID vaccination drive in Kashmir

Srinagar: On the occasion of e-launch of Covid-19 vaccination drive across the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to LG, today kick-started the vaccination in Kashmir at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science (SKIMS), Soura with Director receiving the first shot of COVISHIELD vaccine.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary; Mayor SMC, Director Health Services, Kashmir, Principal GMC Srinagar, Principal SKIMS  Bemina, heads of various departments and large number of frontline Covid-19 healthcare warriors were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Advisor Bhatnagar underscored the significance of this immunization programme to comprehensively combat the pandemic. He said it is a moment of pride for which we have been waiting for. He further said one and all know that SKIMS played a vital role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and it is gratifying to be part of this vaccination drive today.

Bhatnagar added that in coming days all frontline warriors shall be vaccinated for which SKIMS has put in place all arrangements to make this drive a success.

The Advisor emphasized on the need to follow protocols such as wearing mask, hand and respiratory hygiene and social distancing as was reiterated by Prime Minister while launching the vaccination drive.

On the occasion, SKIMS Director Dr. A G Ahangar received the first shot, State Immunisation Officer Qazi Haroon said.

About 4,000 healthcare workers will receive the shot in the first phase and 100 people each will be given shots at these centres, Haroon said.

A lot of doctors, including heads of institutions, several heads of departments and chief medical officers of various districts, received the jabs to boost confidence in the vaccination process, according to Haroon.

Jammu and Kashmir received on Wednesday 1.46 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine, manufactured in India by the Serum Institute. While 79,000 doses were received in Kashmir for the vaccination of nearly 60,000 healthcare workers, 67,500 vaccines were received in the Jammu division.

In the first phase of the vaccination, healthcare workers across the union territory are being given the shots, while frontline workers will be covered in the second phase.

Jammu and Kashmir has over 1.23 lakh coronavirus cases, while death toll due to the pandemic is 1,920. The number of active cases is around 1,400.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *