Trekking Hills Fearlessly, Health Workers Make Vaccination At LoC In Kashmir A Success Story

It may sound near impossible that health workers trekking the hilly terrains on the daily basis to get the people vaccinated but this is the reality. In north Kashmir¡¯s two blocks- Uri and Boniyar, the heath workers are walking several kilometres, ensuring that they reach out directly to the beneficiaries living in the mountains.

Most of these areas have either no Internet connectivity or poor Internet service. These villages fall close to Line of Control (LoC), the highly fortified zones.

Every morning, one can see the small teams of health workers, including men and women - wearing the white aprons and medical toolkits in their hands - leaving for their destinations with a hope to vaccinate everyone.

¡°It is an enthusiasm to vaccinate everyone so that they stay safe,¡± Dr Parvaiz Masoodi, Block Medical Officer Boniyar told Indiatimes.

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¡°Over 60% of population in Uri and over thirty five areas are living in hilly areas and that too without Internet facility. Online booking of vaccination slots in these areas is not required. We do it ourselves,¡± Dr Masoodi said.

Sharing the experience of vaccinating the people near Indo-Pak borders, Masoodi said, ¡°My team trekked kilometers in the hilly terrains to reach in a village despite weather vagaries. We crossed the gushing rivers, streams and even walked on the muddy roads but I am proud that we have achieved a milestone.¡±

Dr Masoodi said, ¡°We have been sending the mobile teams of 5-6 people in every village and in those areas also that are not motorable. After vaccinating people and once reaching back in the Internet zone, we upload their data on the CoWin app.¡±

99% vaccinated in Boniyar

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As per the data obtained from the Health Department, 99.73 percent people in 45 and above age bar have been vaccinated. ¡°I call it is 100% vaccination because some 39 people have been left only who are reluctant but we are motivating them and they too will be covered soon,¡± he said.

Calling it an achievement, Dr Masoodi said, ¡°We got all the vaccination done in just 25 days.¡±

Doctors played pivotal role

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The BMO credits his staff and doctors for achieving such a good number in a short span of time.

¡°After they use to come back from the different villages at 6 in the evening, I have holding the meetings with them despite them being tired and exhausted. We plan the things for the next day,¡± he said.

¡°The interesting thing is that many doctors use to continue their night duties despite going in the field for the vaccination,¡± he said.

Dismissing Rumours

Sometime back many rumours surfaced on social media regarding the COVID-19 vaccines, but Dr Masoodi said he debunked them and created awareness about getting vaccinated. ¡°I roped in local Imams, social activists and media people who took out a message that importance of vaccination.

Now, hopefully we are seeing good results on the ground,¡± he said.

In many areas, we involved Army to create the awareness regarding the vaccines. ¡°They told their porters to get the jab or not to come here. This helped us a lot.¡±

He said that in many cases they wrote ¡®vaccinated¡¯ on the ration copies of the villagers who got the vaccination done. ¡°This would help them to get the ration easily,¡± he said.

Dr Masoodi added that over 85% of migrated people have also been vaccinated.

92 per cent vaccinated in block Uri

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As per the official data, 92 per cent people in the age group of 45 and above have been vaccinated so far in Uri.

¡°Our health teams have been visiting the LoC areas and villages with no road and internet connectivity. They get the data in the offline mode and then upload it in the office,¡± says Mohammad Ramzan Mir, Block Medical Officer (BMO) Uri.

Ramzan said that they are ready for the second dose of vaccination for 45 and above age category.

¡°We are getting the new stock within days and will begun door-to-door vaccination process in Uri and its remote areas,¡± he said.

As per the health officials, 3,000 people have been vaccinated so far in block Boniyar and 1, 500 in block Uri in the age group of 18-44.

People Take Sigh of Relief

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¡°Leave the internet facility, our village doesn¡¯t have the proper road connectivity. It gets closed for the weeks when it rains. But people in a good number have been vaccinated here,¡± said Lal Din Khatana, Sarpanch Charunda village close to the LoC.

¡°We have a health centre in the village and people were called over there and received the first dose of the vaccine. Despite being a far off area, vaccination facilities have been made available in the centre,¡± said Masrat Jamal, Sarpanch Lachipora village.