Strict curfew, but vaccination drive loses momentum in J&K

Srinagar: While the vaccination drive for the 18-45 age group in Jammu and Kashmir is progressing very slowly with vaccination stocks not coming from the Centre, the government has been trying to give the impression that everything is normal.

The authorities in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir have been enforcing strict corona curfew, triggering criticism on social media platforms, as many of the videos of police beating up women on Eid festival have gone viral.

However, the main key to flatten the Covid-19 curve is vaccination which is not gaining any momentum in Jammu and Kashmir even after Eid festival. Senior health officials told this newspaper that for the 18-45 age group, the government has ordered 1.24 crore doses, but only 1.5 lakh doses have arrived so far.

Though people in this age group are going to different health centres after doing the required registration and are coming back without being vaccinated, the authorities say the drive is going on.

Though authorities in Srinagar and Jammu cities have been claiming that vaccination drives are going on, many residents said that despite their best efforts, they could not get vaccinated so far.

“I have been going to the health centre for the past one week for vaccination, but the vaccine has not arrived,” said Akram Ahmad from Hyderpora Srinagar.

On the condition of anonymity, government officials have admitted that sufficient quantity of vaccines is yet to arrive in Jammu and Kashmir, and, as a result, the vaccination drive is going at a slow pace.

These health officials said that they were waiting for more vaccines stocks to arrive before they start the vaccination in full steam.

Even people above 45 years of age have been complaining that they were told to wait for vaccination; however, officials have denied such reports in Srinagar.

Though the government started the vaccination drive on 1 May for the 18-45 age group, it was merely for photo session of the media, common people said in Srinagar.

The government has recently requested people in this age group not to crowd vaccination centres without booking slots for the vaccine.

Srinagar authorities have told people in this age group to register with the CoWIN app to get their first jab. Many youth in Srinagar said the CoWIN portal is not open for them to get registered.