Jammu and Kashmir preparing for vaccination of people in 18-45 age group

The Jammu and Kashmir government is preparing for the vaccination of about 65 lakh people in the 18-45 age group from next month, a senior official said on Friday and directed authorities to strictly enforce precautionary measures against COVID-19 to contain the surge in infections.

Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam reviewed the public health response to the pandemic and asked the administration to remain alert and tighten the implementation of existing control measures and SOPs to reverse the upward trend.

Considering the recent surge in COVID-19 infections, the chief secretary impressed upon the officers to strictly implement the strategy of testing, vaccination, strict control in containment zones and promotion of COVID-19-appropriate behaviour among masses to prevent a further surge in the cases.

Informing that certain districts are showing very high positivity rate, the chief secretary asked the respective district administrations to ramp up testing in the identified target clusters and prioritise vaccination of the eligible population groups.

It was stated that 20-30 per cent of the new positive cases are travellers who are being tested at the entry point itself and prevented from mingling with the general population.

It was informed that in the initial phases of COVID-19 vaccination, 75 per cent of health workers, 78 per cent of frontline workers, and 38 per cent of citizens above 45 years of age, totalling 15,25,604 people, have been vaccinated in Jammu and Kashmir with no reported case of any adversity.

The next phase of the vaccination for the 18-45 age group will cover approximately 65 lakh people, they said.

To effectively deliver the vaccines at the grass-root level, the chief secretary sought greater coordination between the frontline workers of various departments including health, social welfare, school education, rural development, and housing and urban development.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)