Director of Kashmir’s premier hospital, Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), A G Ahangar and institute’s catering supervisor Bashir Ahmad were the first persons in the Valley to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Saturday.
Ahmad, 59, the catering supervisor at SKIMS, was a happy man to be among the first to receive a dose of Covishield vaccine after the drive was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi online across India.
“I can’t express my gratitude to be among the first to receive the vaccine. There was no problem or allergy of any type whatsoever,” he said.
Ahmad, who has been working at SKIMS for the past 36 years, urged his fellow health workers and common people to come forward for the vaccination.
“The vaccine is necessary for the control of this pandemic. I have seen the effects of this disease from close quarters here at SKIMS. I have seen how Covid-19 patients suffered,” he said.
“We are responsible for the diets of the patients here and as a supervisor it was done under my command. My eyes have seen how dangerous and debilitating illness the coronavirus is,” he said.
Ahmad said he has been a volunteer all his life. “I have always volunteered to help people. At the SKIMS, I have so far donated 86 pints of blood on various occasions,” said Ahmad, who is also the chairman of a blood bank.
The first batch of Covid-19 vaccine -Covishield – from Serum Institute of India, Pune, reached Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday afternoon.
“The consignment contained 1.46 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine – 79,000 doses for the Kashmir Valley and 67,500 doses for the Jammu division,” said state immunisation officer Dr Qazi Haroon.
The vaccination drive has started in every district of the Kashmir valley. “The vaccination is going on in every district. In the first phase, we are vaccinating healthcare workers,” said divisional commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole.
Director health services Sameer Mattoo said that the drive is being held in 40 places across the Union Territory. “In Kashmir valley, we are carrying out vaccination at 20 centres – mostly at hospitals and sub-district hospitals,” he said.
He said on the first day, they would be vaccinating 100 persons at every centre. “The numbers will increase after the first day. It is a continuous process now,” he said.
The daily Covid-19 cases and deaths in J&K have witnessed a significant decrease in December and January. The UT recorded 144 fresh coronavirus cases and five more deaths on Friday, taking the total case count in the UT to 123,108 and the death toll to 1,920.