Covid-19 vaccination drive resumes in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: With the fresh stock of Covid vaccines being made available by authorities, the halted vaccination drive resumed in Kashmir Valley on Wednesday albeit at a slow pace.

Officials said the drive resumed after J&K received a fresh consignment of Covishield vaccine on Tuesday. According to a daily media bulletin, 556 persons above the age of 45 received vaccines today which included 252 in the Srinagar district.

However, in four out of 10 districts of the Valley, not a single person could be vaccinated due to the non-availability of the doses. A Health Department official said that in a day or two the vaccination drive will resume all over Kashmir as they are expecting more doses to arrive.

The vaccination process had come to a halt in the majority of Kashmir districts in the past ten days evoking criticism by the citizens.

In Jammu region, 7,611 persons aged over 45 years were vaccinated on Wednesday. Overall 28,47,780 persons, including 15,10,860 in Jammu and 13,36,920 in Kashmir have been vaccinated so far.

Earlier, vaccine hesitancy in Kashmir had slowed down the vaccination process. During the past month, however, people have been going to vaccination centres in large numbers, but the shortage of vaccines has marred the drive.

J&K needs vaccine doses for 61 lakh people in the 18-45 age group and despite claims by the administration, most of the people in this group remain un-vaccinated so far. (DHNS)