Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education, Vivek Bhardwaj on Monday kick-started vaccination drive for children between 15 to 18 years in Kashmir Division at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Kothi Bagh, Srinagar.Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Muhammad Aijaz Assad, Director Health Services Kashmir (DHSK), Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, Director School Education Kashmir, Tasaduq Hussian, CMO Srinagar, DHO Srinagar besides other concerned officials of Health and Education department were present at the event.Speaking on the occasion, the Additional Chief Secretary said that there is an estimated target of more than 8 lakh children who are scheduled to be inoculated in the vaccination drive at 308 vaccination sites in Jammu division and 514 in Kashmir division.He said that the vaccination drive for children is very important in order to contain the spread of Covid-19 and expressed hope that the Union Government will keep stock of vaccines available for us so that this process can be completed as soon as possible.
The Additional Chief Secretary said that the Health and Medical Education Department has made elaborative preparations.He said they recently held a meeting during which a strategy was chalked out in association with the School Education Department and District Administration Srinagar so that they are able to identify children and sites for the vaccination drive. “We have already received nearly 3 lakh vaccines. We are hopeful that we will complete the fresh vaccination drive within a short period of time. We will soon achieve the vaccination target,” he said.The Additional Chief Secretary also said the administration is fully prepared to tackle any eventuality as number of beds including ICU, ventilators have been increased by many times besides that oxygen supply has been increased by 10 times.On the occasion, Director Health Services Kashmir (DHSK), Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather said vaccination for children between 15 to 18 years will keep the children safe. He appealed the children to get vaccinated to protect themselves.Detailing out the importance and benefits of the program, the director has already given strict direction to the staff of the health department to be proactive and ensure in making this national initiative a grand success.Later, the director visited many vaccination sites. He also inaugurated a vaccination site at Kashmir Institute of Excellence (KIE).Meanwhile, on the first day of the inoculation drive, 22,905 children between 15 to 18 years age group were vaccinated the first dose at 1172 session sites across Kashmir valley.