*Srinagar lags behind in inoculation
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, May 17: The COVID-19 vaccination in Kashmir has come to a halt as the Valley has run out of doses as no vaccine has been received for the last 11 days with the Government now contemplating to prioritise the high-risk group for vaccination.
Nodal Officer Vaccination, Dr Shahid Hussain, told Excelsior that Kashmir has not received the vaccine for the last 11 days and the J&K Government is in touch with Centre on the vaccine shortage.
“We have received 1.5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine this month with 50,000 each on May 1, May 5th and May 6th. There is a shortage of vaccine from the Centre and it may take a few days to get more dozes”, he said.
Dr Shahid said that there is not a single dose of vaccine available in the Valley as of now and for the last one week no vaccination has taken place at majority of the vaccination centres across Kashmir.
The Nodal officer said that since there is a shortage of vaccine, the Government is contemplating to give priority to high-risk groups and those who are running the economy. “This includes people with comorbidity, working class, Government employees, journalists, labourers, shopkeepers, transporters etc”, he said.
The shortage of vaccine has become a headache for the hospital staff across Kashmir as people come to the health facilities for vaccination and inquiry.
At a Health facility in Soibugh in district Budgam, no vaccination has taken place for the last one week. An official said that Soibugh block had received 700 doses some 10 days back and they were exhausted soon as more and more people were coming forward for vaccination.
“We are also receiving calls from those whose second dose is due. They get messages on their mobile phones about the second dose and they call us. It has become very difficult for us to explain to them”, he said.
An official at the main health facility in South Kashmir’s Qazigund said that they have not vaccinated anyone for over a week now as there is no vaccine available. “People are coming to the health facility but we are helpless”, he said.
An official at Government Medical College Anantnag said that they were normally vaccinating 200-300 people daily but for the last one week vaccination has stopped due to its non-availability.
In Kashmir, so far 1335954 doses of vaccine have been administered to the people including over 3 lakh people who have received second dose as well. The South Kashmir district of Shopian and Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal which are smaller districts have 97.47 percent and 96.25 percent people above 45 years age group inoculated.
Srinagar, the capital city which has highest active cases at 8, 425 and has been declared Red Zone has a poor record of vaccination. So far the percentage of the people in the age group of above 45 who have been vaccinated is only 35.52. In the city of a population of 16 lakh, only 197571 people have been vaccinated which is just 16 percent of the total population.
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