J-K's Anantnag district administration starts COVID vaccination drive for nomadic communities

The district administration in Anantnag has started door to door COVID-19 vaccination drive for the members of nomadic communities in the district who have started migration along with their livestock from far-flung areas of Rajouri and Poonch towards Kashmir valley.

The district administration in Anantnag has started door to door COVID-19 vaccination drive for the members of nomadic communities in the district who have started migration along with their livestock from far-flung areas of Rajouri and Poonch towards Kashmir valley. The district administration has directed the health department of Anantnag to reach out to every member of nomadic community such as Gujjar and Bakerwal in and around the district where they have settled for summer months.

In this regard, the Block Medical Office (BMO) of Mattan block of Anantnag district has deputed a batch of doctors and ASHA workers for their vaccination. Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar (Naib Tehsildar Ranbirpora Anantnag ) told ANI," On the directions of Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, I have come here along with my medical team and Sarpanch of Ranbirpora in Anantnag because here there are a lot of nomadic families and we are checking if they are vaccinated or not. We're identifying the places where these nomadic communities are stationed and sending teams to vaccinate them."

"These people are here because of the annual migration and they don't know where to get vaccinated, so we have come here to vaccinate them," he added. Muhammad Yousuf, a Gujjar said," We have come from Udhampur and during summers we visit Kashmir valley for our livestock. For two months we have been here and today a team of doctors came and vaccinated us. We are very thankful to them."

It is here to mention that Gujjars and Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir go for their six-month-long seasonal migration every year from Jammu towards high altitude meadows of Kashmir valley. The migration begins in May and lasts till October when the temperature in Kashmir starts falling. Mumtaz Ahmad, a Bakerwal said, "We come here in the summer and have been residing here for two months to take care of our livestock. They vaccinated all of us. We are very thankful to them".

According to the Union Health Ministry, Jammu and Kashmir has 28,423 active COVID-19 cases. The total number of recoveries has reached 2,66,576 and fatalities have mounted to 4,051. (ANI)

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