The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmad on Friday chaired a meeting to review the covid control measures, sampling and status of vaccination process.Meeting discussed threadbare the issues related to the pandemic, especially the arrangements to deal with the new variant. It was given out that there has been a substantial increase in the number of covid cases from the past few weeks and as on date there are 69 active positive cases.Officers informed that the vaccination process is in full swing and 70 percent population of the district is fully vaccinated while the first dose has been given to 102 percent people in the district including migrant workers, security forces and students.Chief Medical Officer Dr Bashir Ahmad said on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad a mega vaccination campaign in convergence with ICDS was launched across the district during which teams of healthcare workers, CSCs VLEs and ICDS go door-to-door to vaccinate people eligible for the second dose and also those who have not taken the first dose.He said besides, the teams focus on achieving 100 percent enrolment under AYUSHMAN BHARAT scheme, and completion of malnutrition and anaemia survey in the district, he added. He said under this initiative joint teams screen all households while taking due care of Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB) in the jurisdiction of the Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres for vaccination, testing, enrolment in Ayushman Bharat Health Cards besides screening people for Tuberculosis.Dr Owais lauded the efforts of the health workers of the district for working round the clock to fight the pandemic. He said the battle continues and stressed on extensive sampling in the district especially at crowded places including markets etc.Dr Owais said the CAB and SOPs are vital to prevent any spike in infections and cautioned against any complacency on part of the stakeholders so that the virus is kept at bay and its spread is curtailed further. He appealed to the people not to lower guard and asked them to follow guidelines so that administration is not forced to take action against violators.Earlier officers informed that extensive testing is being done with special focus on containment zones and public places. Officers informed that 4.60 lac tests have been done so far with 0.37 percent positivity rate and 98.26 recovery rate.The meeting was attended by Chief Medical Officer Bandipora, Dr Bashir Ahmad, Medical Superintendent DH Bandipora Dr Mushtaq, BMO Bandipora, District Epidemiologist Dr Nabeel Ishtiyaq and other senior officers of the district.