A positive approach

The government is Jammu in Kashmir seems to be on track while dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The number of cases has drastically reduced, so has the number of deaths due to the deadly virus that had started to engulf the entire world by this time last year. On Monday, Jammu and Kashmir reported just 43 fresh cases of Covid-19, taking the tally of total positive cases to 124,952. No death was reported in the 24 hours till Monday evening. Of the exact number of 124,952 cases, 73,295 are from Kashmir and 51,657 from Jammu division. The total number of positive cases in Kashmir division have reached to 73,295 including 71,589 recoveries and 1,222 deaths while as total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 51,657 including 50,826 recoveries and 722 deaths. With the introduction of the vaccines lately, it seems that the authorities have finally some control over the situation. The approach to beat the pandemic is clearly upbeat. One can gauge from the fact that Centre has disbursed more than Rs 1.70 crore to complete the initial phase of the COVID 19 vaccination programme in Jammu and Kashmir. Official documents show that around 374537 beneficiaries including 114910 health care workers have been registered for COVID 19 vaccination in Jammu and Kashmir so far. To cover these 374537 beneficiaries, the Centre has disbursed Rs 1,70,99,680 crore as an operational cost of COVID 19 vaccination programme in Jammu and Kashmir. COVID 19 vaccination drive was launched when Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually kicked off the world’s largest inoculation drive on January 17. Around 17,479428 health care and frontline workers are registered for vaccination drive in the country. The operational cost for the drive has been pegged at Rs 100 crore. So far 60,000 healthcare workers and frontline workers have been vaccinated in Jammu and Kashmir. It includes 42000 Covid warriors. As many as 40 centres have been designated for vaccination in the UT. Nearly 100 persons are vaccinated on a daily basis. In Kashmir, a vaccination drive is being carried at 20 hospitals and sub-district hospitals. The prioritization of population groups, procurement and inventory management, vaccine selection, vaccine delivery, and tracking mechanism is being done by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID 19 (NEGVAC). NEGVAC has prioritized Health Care Workers and Front Line Workers during the initial phase of COVID 19 vaccination followed by prioritized population groups of persons aged 50 years and above, and those aged less than 50 years with comorbidities.
The vaccines are being provided free of cost by the Central Government. Centre has released Rs 167 crore to J&K under ‘India’s COVID 19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package’ after the outbreak of COVID 19 to fight the pandemic. In addition, more than Rs 16 lakh were disbursed to procure N95 and PPE kits for the health workers treating COVID 19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir hospitals.