No adverse reactions so far: Dr Qazi

Srinagar: After two weeks of successful Covid vaccination drive in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration would start the second phase of vaccination from Thursday in the region.
State Immunisation Officer Dr Qazi Haroon told Kashmir Reader that frontline workers in the second phase comprise policemen and revenue officials. “About one to two lakh of them in total would be covered (in this phase),” he said.
Ever since the first phase of the vaccination started from January 16, about 30 percent of health care workers Jammu and Kashmir have received the vaccine shots. So far, not a single case of complication has been reported. The total number of health workers to be covered is more than one lakh.
Qazi said that the vaccine was given at designated places in a systematic manner. There was a waiting area, a vaccination room, and an observation room.
“It has been successfully done. Now we will move to the second stage,” he added.
The administration has set up 60 centres where it administers the vaccine. But with the increasing load, it will set up about 200 more centres.
Qazi said that initially the vaccine will be administered in police hospitals and subsequently more centres will be opened shortly. According to him, people aged above 50 will be vaccinated in the third phase while people below 50 but with co morbid conditions will be considered in the fourth phase.
Two COVID-19 vaccines– indigenous Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and the Oxford-AstraZeneca & Serum Institute of India vaccine Covishield for emergency use are being administered in J&K.
More than one lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir have been Covid positive in J&K, mostly in the Kashmir Valley. The positivity rate, however, has declined over the past few months.
The vaccine has been administered amid rumours and fears of it causing adverse reactions.
On the contrary, all the recipients of the vaccine stayed normal and showed no sign of an adverse reaction, Dr Qazi added.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz