Firdous Hassan
Srinagar: More than 53 percent of prisoners have been vaccinated against COVID 19 in Jammu and Kashmir.
An official document accessed by The Kashmir Monitor reveals that of the 4500 prisoners lodged in different jails in Jammu and Kashmir, 2461 have been inoculated so far.
The document reveals that 2,454 inmates received the first jab, while seven others have been administered both doses.
At the beginning of the second COVID-19 wave, 23 inmates had tested positive. Jammu jails were the worst hit. Twenty-one inmates had tested positive in Kathua district jail, one each in Central Jail Kotbhalwal and District Jail Jammu.
Later the number swelled to more than 90 in Jammu and Kashmir jails.
An official told The Kashmir Monitor that the vaccination process is on to protect prisoners from contracting the infection.
“Doctors are conducting vaccination drive in different jails to inoculate inmates of different age groups,” he said.
Initially, there was confusion over inoculating prisoners across India because Aadhaar Cards were mandatory for the jab. Later, the Centre relaxed the rules and now prisoners can be administered vaccines without any hitch.
Under new rules, COVID-19 vaccination of prisoners is covered under ‘Persons without Prescribed Identity Cards’. They include nomads, prison inmates, inmates in Mental Health Institutions, citizens in Old Age Homes, road side beggars, people residing in rehabilitation centers/camps, and any other identified eligible persons, aged 18 years or more, and not having any of the nine prescribed individual Photo ID Cards.
The document reveals that of the 1,87,453 inmates, 22,345 have received both jabs across the country.
Madhya Pradesh has administered both doses to 2,826 inmates, which is the highest in the country. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,789), Rajasthan (2,368), and Gujarat (2,237).
Nearly 24,230 prisoners of Uttar Pradesh have been administered the first dose followed by Maharashtra (21,868) and Bihar (17,626).
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