Mir Mudasir
Few days before the Eid Ul Fitr, 35 year old Shakeel Ahmad travelled around 80 kilometers from Baramulla town to Khanmoh town of South Kashmir for the first jab of COVID19 vaccine. Overcoming all the odds and restrictions imposed by the Jammu and Kashmir government to reach the centre for the jab, he returned disappointed.
“I had booked my appointment online on an official website, the Co_win. Khanmoh school was the only nearby centre available for me to get vaccinated, “he told The Legitimate.
Ahmad, however, didn’t mind the distance and was hoping that he will be vaccinated since he booked his appointment online.
“On reaching the centre, the staff had already left since they had few doses available. Within one hour the stock was exhausted.”
Since then Ahmad has been running pillar to post to get vaccinated, but to no avail. Kashmir over the past few weeks is facing acute shortage of vaccines, according to health officials.
“The vaccines have not been replenished by the Jammu and Kashmir administration. Most of the centres designated for vaccination are running dry,” the officials further added.
The locals claim that those who have received the first doze are still waiting for the second jab.
“We can say it technically, the vaccination process has been stopped owing to dearth of supply,” said one of the senior health officials.
“I have three times fixed my appointment online for the second jab. Whenever I reach the centre, I am told no stock is available. The government shall make the vaccine available or officially inform people about its paucity at health centers,” said, 85 year old Mohammad Akbar.
Meanwhile, the shortage of vaccines has triggered the huge criticism and people have been alleging that JK administration has shifted all the resources and attention to Jammu region only.
Peerzada Ashiq, a journalist by profession wrote on his facebook wall: “Worrying trends: Is there a deliberate disparity or our health department has failed us?
1) 10 districts get zero doses on Sunday, while the Jammu region saw 9144 doses administered.
2) Only 35 percent of the population (above 45 years old) vaccinated in Srinagar, compared to Jammu district’s 99.34 percent till May 16.
3) Jammu has administered 5, 63,880 vaccine doses compared to Srinagar’s 1,97,571 doses till May 16.”
He was not alone to criticize the government. Another veteran journalist Yousef Jameel while sharing the pain of Jammuities also urged the government to offer fair governance to both the regions.
“No doubt, Jammuites, our own flesh and blood, have suffered enormously due to this bloody COVID-19 but the situation in Kashmir is equally bad. So is it bigotry of those at the helm or someone is playing vote politics that the Valley is being discriminated against in vaccination and even being robbed of Oxygen generation units?,” he questioned the system for its stepmother treatment towards Kashmir region.
So far, the official data suggests that as many as 28 lakh vaccine doses have been administered in Jammu and Kashmir of which most of the beneficiaries are security forces and police personnel.
Meanwhile, the government has extended the lockdown till May 24 and the restrictions have been intensified owing to the rising number of fatalities due to COVID19.
