Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 18: After running out of vaccine, Kashmir today received fresh consignment of Covishield vaccine and a massive inoculation drive is being started from tomorrow across the Valley.
An official said that Kashmir today received a fresh consignment of 90, 000 doses of Covishield vaccine for the age group of above 44 years and the vaccination will be re-started tomorrow on war footing. He said that this vaccine will be available for all people above the age group of 44 and priority will be given to those whose second dose is due.
The official said that 90, 000 doses of Covishield vaccine that was received today is for the month of May and no fresh such consignment is expected this month for the age group of above 44 years of age.
He said that 1.17 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin were also received yesterday for the age group of 18-44. He said that in this age group priority will be given to high-risk groups of people and those who are supporting the economy. He said that for this age group more consignments of vaccines which the Government of UT is purchasing are expected soon.
“We have placed an order for 1.2 crore doses of both Covishield and Covaxin for the age group of 18-44 and we are expecting its regular supply”, he said.
Director General Health and Family Welfare, Dr Saleemur Rehman, told Excelsior that Jammu and Kashmir received fresh consignment of vaccines yesterday and today for the age group of 18-44 and above 44 respectively. “We have enough doses now and are expecting more. Since there is shortage at national level so its use should be judicious”, he said.
Kashmir had earlier received 1.5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine this month with 50, 000 each on May 1, May 5th and May 6th. For the last over a week the majority of the vaccination centres had not done any inoculation due to shortage of doses.
In Kashmir so far 1335954 doses of vaccine have been administered to the people including over 3 lakh 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.
In the meantime, the Government today said that COVID-19 vaccination in the Union Territory will continue on a war footing from tomorrow.
A tweet by the J&K Health and Medical Education Department this evening said that the UT had received fresh consignment of Covishield vaccines. It said the Government has “ensured for a continuous supply of vaccine doses to meet requirements”.
“J&K has today received fresh consignment of Covishield vaccine. The immunisation drive in Jammu and Kashmir division will continue on a war footing from tomorrow, 19th May. The government has also ensured for a continuous supply of vaccine doses to meet requirements, ” tweeted Health & Medical Education Department J&K.
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