COVID-19: Shopian becomes first J&K district to vaccinate all above 45

Srinagar: The Shopian district in South Kashmir became the first district of Jammu and Kashmir where 100 percent COVID-19 vaccination was achieved for people aged 45 years or above.  The feat was made possible due to the hard work of the employees of the district administration and Health Department, the government said.

The first dose of vaccine has been administered to all people over the age of 45 years, making Shopian the first district in the union territory and the second in the country to achieve this feat.

Shopian Immunization Officer Gulzar Ahmad Baba said, “Shopian is the first district in Kashmir to cover all the people above the age of 45. Our teams are all engaged in this process. All the villages and towns are covered. Hospitals and health centres worked tirelessly to achieve this target.” 

He added that people cooperated with the administration in the drive. “At first there was a little fear, but as soon as they came to know about it, they cooperated.  We worked every day from 9 am to 6 pm and achieved the goal,” Baba said.

The district administration has pushed Shopian ahead of other districts since the vaccination campaign was launched in March.  Elaborate publicity was done to motivate people.  Anganwadi workers were deployed from house to house to find out the number of people above the age of 45 years.  

A local resident Javed Ahmed said, "It is positive news. If we have to get out of this epidemic, then there is only one way out, that we all get vaccinated."  He added, “People followed SOPs here due to which we have less of COVID case and vaccination also played a vital role.”

Mohammad Iqbal, a health official, said, "We got people vaccinated in this record time. We got 100 percent people vaccinated. We also made people aware to follow SOPs." 

More than 50 percent of people have also got the second dose of the vaccine.

The officials said 78,769 people were given the first dose in the target age group.  The Health Department established more than 70 vaccination centres.