STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: The Centre has urged states and Union territories to hold special camps on routes of various yatras as well as at office complexes, railway stations and schools and colleges for administering precaution doses of Covid vaccine to all aged above 18 years.
J&K reports 165 new Covid cases, Ladakh 10
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported 165 new Covid cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 4,56,456, officials said.
Of the new cases, 112 were reported from the Jammu division and 53 from the Kashmir valley, they said.
Providing district-wise breakup for positive cases, a Medical Bulletin issued by the government informed that Jammu reported 92 cases, Srinagar 43, Udhampur 07, Kathua 06, Ganderbal 05, Samba 04, Anantnag 02, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Baramulla, Pulwama and Kupwara districts reported one case each while as no other district across the Union Territory reported any fresh case.
The death toll stands at 4,758.
No Covid-related death was reported in the last 24 hours, officials said.
There are 815 active cases of Covid in the Union Territory, while the overall recoveries have reached 4,50,883, they added.
There are 51 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Meanwhile, Ladakh’s COVID-19 tally increased to 28,558 as 10 more people tested positive for the viral disease during the past 24 hours, officials said.
All the new cases were detected in Leh which has seen a spurt in Covid infections over the last two months, taking the active cases in the district to 49, they said.
So far, 228 people have succumbed to COVID-19 in Ladakh. Of these, 168 deaths were reported from Leh and 60 from Kargil, according to officials.
A total of 3,355 people, including 1,547 air travellers, were screened for COVID-19 in Leh and Kargil districts on Wednesday, they said.
Twelve people were discharged from hospitals in Leh after recovering from the disease. With this, the total number of recoveries have gone up to 28,311, the officials said.
The 75-day ‘COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava’ to provide free precaution dose to all eligible population aged above 18 years at government Covid vaccination centres will commence on Friday. In a virtual meeting with health secretaries of state and Union territories and NHM MDs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan urged them to give an intensive and ambitious push towards full vaccination coverage by inoculating all eligible beneficiaries and covering them with precaution dose, a health ministry statement said.
Being implemented in a ‘mission mode’, this special Covid vaccination drive is part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The special drive is aimed at increasing uptake for the precaution dose of Covid vaccine among the eligible adult population, the statement said.
Bhushan highlighted that less percentage of precaution doses among population groups aged 18 years and above (8 per cent) and persons aged 60 years and above (27 per cent) is a cause of concern.
Those eligible for the precaution dose include all persons aged 18 years and above who have completed 6 months (or 26 weeks) from the date of administration of second dose.
In the meeting, states and Union territories were urged to implement ‘COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava’ for 75 days as ‘Jan Abhiyaan’ with massive mass mobilisation, through a camp approach, the statement said.
They were advised to organise special vaccination camps in the routes of Char Dham Yatra (Uttarakhand), Amarnath Yatra (Jammu and Kashmir), Kanwar Yatra (all states and Union territories of north India) as well as major melas and congregations.
Bhushan advised them to operationalise special workplace vaccination camps at big office complexes(public and private), industrial establishments, railway stations, inter-state bus stations, in schools and colleges etc.
In all such special vaccination camps, vaccination to be done mandatorily through CoWIN and vaccination certificate to be provided. Ambitious district/ block/CVC-wise session plans need to be made for successful implementation of the initiative and to ensure that all eligible population is covered by precaution dose, the statement said.
The states and Union territories were also advised to do wide advance publicity of this initiative in print, electronic, social and mass media. State health secretaries have been urged to undertake regular weekly review of progress at the state level.
The states and Union territories were further advised to ensure that the available Covid vaccine doses are consumed in a timely manner and no dose expires in both government and private facilities, the statement said.
Highlighting that Covid vaccine is a precious national resource, states were requested to assess the requirement for the 75-day special drive as per the eligible population groups and inform to the Centre.
This would enable the health ministry to provide adequate doses to the states and Union territories that need them.
The principle of first expiry, first out shall continue to guide the Covid vaccination, the statement said.
