A remote hamlet in the Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the first village in India to vaccinate all its adult population against the novel Coronavirus.
“Weyan, a village in district Bandipora (Jammu and Kashmir) has become the first village in the country, where the entire population above 18 years has been vaccinated,” the official Twitter account of PIB, Jammu and Kashmir said in a tweet.
Weyan, a village in district Bandipora (J&K) has become the first village in the country, where entire population above 18 years has been vaccinated.@PMOIndia@MoHFW_INDIA@drharshvardhan @PIB_India @AshwiniKChoubey @OfficeOfLGJandK@iamJaideepB @dcbandipora pic.twitter.com/dkEBsW1PKK
— PIB in Jammu Kashmir & Ladakh (@PIBSrinagar) June 8, 2021
Due to the difficult terrain of the area, the vaccinators had walked 18 km on foot to reach the village, as per the Governor’s office.
“There is no internet access in the village. So it was not possible for the residents to get appointments for vaccination like the way people in urban areas do,” Bashir Ahmed Khan, Chief Medical Officer, Bandipora said while explaining the difficulty faced by the healthcare workers, PTI reported.
Weyan is 28km from Bandipora town and the first 10km of the journey is by road, up to a place called Atwatoo. The remaining 18km is the foot, up the hills.
“Residents over 18 years 362 in all have been vaccinated. These nomadic people leave the village and go to the still upper reaches of the mountains, along with their cattle, during summer. So, it was important to reach out to them before they moved out,” Khan said.
The “Jammu and Kashmir has adopted a 10 point strategy to vaccinate entire eligible population at an accelerated pace. Despite initial vaccine hesitancy, the current vaccination rate of UT is more than 70% for people over 45 years, which is double that of the national average.
