Srinagar, June 25: Rural Srinagar has achieved 92 percent target in COVID19 vaccination after district administration adopted a smart strategy to reach out to people.
The official data reveals that almost all eligible people residing in Panchayati haqlas have received vaccination shots in rural Srinagar.
The data further reveals that people falling under the age group of forty five plus in rural Srinagar have been covered under COVID19 vaccination scheme while the people falling under age group of 18-44 are around 90 percent.
Overall Srinagar district has administered the highest total number of doses under Covid vaccination programme after Jammu and Baramulla Districts.
“The Srinagar administration has administered the highest number of COVID19 vaccine doses after Jammu and Baramulla districts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” an official confirmed to Greater Kashmir.
As of now, the Srinagar administration has covered, as per official figures, over 3.50 lakh people under vaccination scheme in entire district.
“Interestingly, a good number of population of Srinagar is residing abroad or in other states of the country. In case we minus that population from vaccination data target, Srinagar has achieved higher than figures on paper,” an official said.
A prominent retired health official said, “at one point of time, people were thronging vaccination sites in Srinagar to get inoculated. That time inadequate vaccine supply was an issue. Later, some miscreants spread rumours among people about vaccine being unsafe. These factors slowed the process of achieving target in Srinagar.”
An official said “we took respectable citizens, traders, religious preachers, civil society members, lawyers, journalists and other relevant people and organizations were taken on board who played also their positive role in encouraging people to receive the vaccine doses.”
“After adopting proper strategy to build confidence among people and involve religious preachers to invalidate rumours, more and more beneficiaries turned up to take vaccine shots,” said a medico.
A senior official said that to intensify drive and encourage people for receiving shots, the district administration had to rope in maximum of its men and machinery on ground and sub-divisional magistrates, tehsildars, Asha workers, men from sports department. They also started rigorous door to door awareness campaign was to educate people about the importance of COVID19 vaccination.
“The process to cover left-out beneficiaries under vaccination is going on. The target to cover entire eligible population will be achieved shortly,” said an official.
In an effort to encourage people for receiving doses, the administration also organized special vaccination centres for traders, hotel staff, widows, transporters, lawyers, journalists and other people by putting them under category of “priority and vulnerable groups.”
The COVID19 vaccination melas were also held at several places in Srinagar to provide doses to the people at their door steps.
Other successful efforts by district administration to encourage people for vaccination include the order issued by it asking traders, shopkeepers and transporters to produce COVID19 vaccination certificate when demanded by any officials. They were not allowed to operate in absence of COVID19 vaccination certificate.