COVID vaccination drive begins in Kashmir

Srinagar, January 16

The coronavirus vaccination drive started in Kashmir on Saturday, with nearly 2,000 healthcare workers, including prominent doctors, to be given jabs in the Valley by the end of the day, an official said.

Forty centres—20 each in two divisions—across Jammu and Kashmir started the vaccination drive after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started it across the country in the morning, the official said.

A G Ahangar—the director of the SKIMS, the premier tertiary care hospital in Srinagar—received the first shot at the centre, 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 told PTI.

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. — PTI

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.