Covid vaccination for age group 18-45 years begins in U’khand

By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 10 May: Covid vaccination for people in the age group of 18 to 45 years started today in Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat inaugurated the vaccination campaign at Radha Soami Satsang Ghar in Dehradun.
Later, he went to Haldwani and Almora too and conducted inspection of Covid Care facilities there. It may be recalled that the government had announced free vaccination for an estimated 50 lakh youth in this age group. However, this will take time as the stock of the vaccines made available to the state is merely 1.5 lakhs for this age group. This includes over 1 lakh doses of Covishield and 47,000 doses of Covaxin. Anchal Pundir was the first person given the vaccine in the presence of Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat in Dehradun. After this, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat also inaugurated vaccination of 18-45 year olds at MB Degree College Haldwani, later also travelling to Almora.
Long queues were seen outside the vaccination centres in the state, though only those who had pre-registered themselves for vaccinations were the ones permitted. In some places, it was observed that no social distance was being maintained and in some places there was some ruckus too including at a Primary School where Assembly Speaker Prem Aggarwal inaugurated the campaign. Slogans were raised against him as he supposedly arrived late and the people had to wait for his arrival.
At the Premnagar Vaccination Centre in Haridwar, people waiting for their turn for the vaccination created a ruckus against the poor management of the vaccination drive.
Around 50 lakh persons in this age group would get the vaccination free of cost in Uttarakhand for which an expenditure provision of Rs 400 crores had been made and an initial amount of Rs 100 crores has already been released to the State Health Department. Nodal Officer, Vaccination, Dr Kuldeep Martolia said that a detailed plan for the vaccination campaign had been prepared involving the District Magistrates and Chief Development Officers of all the 13 districts. The emphasis of the government was to carry out vaccinations in open spaces in order to prevent Covid spread. In Dehradun, five centres have been put up at Radha Soami Satsang Bhawan, including two for those above 45 years and three for those above 18 years of age. Covid vaccination centres in other districts have also been set up in a similar manner. Vaccines have been supplied to all districts, he added. Those eligible would be required to register themselves on the CoWin App and CoWin portal.