J&K sees dip in weekly vaccination doses against COVID since April 3

People being tested for COVID-19 at TRC in Srinagar on Saturday. —Excelsior/Shakeel
People being tested for COVID-19 at TRC in Srinagar on Saturday. —Excelsior/Shakeel

Shopian, Pulwama, Kishtwar see continuous rise

Irfan Tramboo

Srinagar, Apr 17: As the vaccination drive continues across the Union Territory, the majority of districts in J&K are witnessing a continuous drop in the weekly vaccination doses even as the second wave of COVID-19 raged on.
As per figures, the weekly vaccination doses have witnessed a drop in Kashmir as well as in Jammu districts with some of the Kashmir districts witnessing over 50 per cent decrease in the number of vaccination doses.
In Kashmir, district Anantnag has witnessed a decrease of around 38 per cent in the number of inoculation with the district recording 25260 doses (including first and second dose) from April 3 to April 9; the same has reduced to 17395 from April 10-16.
Also, as per data, almost all the J&K districts witnessed a considerable drop on the day of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan. However, the figures revealed, after that, the daily numbers have started picking up while the weekly numbers remain low.
Also, across J&K on the day of the start of Ramadhan, there was a considerable dip in the number of doses and recorded 29960 inoculations, and then it picked up and reached 40,000 mark on April 16. It is to be noted that the daily number of doses reached the highest peak of more than 76,000 on April 8 only.
The weekly numbers have decreased also in Bandipora with 9784 doses given from April 3 to 9 and 6763 doses from April 10-16. Similarly, in Baramulla, there has been a 50 per cent decrease in the number of vaccination doses from 41797 from April 3 to April 9 to 22783 from April 10-16.
In central Kashmir’s Budgam, there is also a decrease of around 50 per cent in the number of vaccine doses with 34068 inoculations recorded from April 3 to 9 and from April 10-16, the same has been recorded as 16845 doses.
Also, district Ganderbal as well witnessed a decrease of more than 50 per cent in the number of inoculations per week. The district recorded 20566 doses administered from April 3-9 while the same has come down to 10330 does from April 10-16.
Similarly, district Kulgam recorded 12173 inoculations from April 3-9, while as the same has come down to 6452 from April 10-16, while as in Kupwara and Srinagar, the numbers have remained somewhat the same from April 3-9 and April April 10-16.
On the other side, Districts like Shopian and Pulwama are witnessing an increase in the number of inoculations from April 3-16. While the district Shopian recorded a number of 8580 doses from April 3-9 and 11716 from April 10-16, district Pulwama recorded 8115 inoculations from April 3-9 and 13285 doses from April 10-16.
In Jammu, the weekly doses have gone up in Kishtwar while as in Jammu, the numbers remain the same. However, in the rest of the districts of Jammu, there is a decrease in the number of vaccination doses per week.
While several factors have been termed as responsible for the decrease in the number of weekly doses, one factor is that of the Ramadhan due to which the people are staying away from the vaccination. However, the figures reveal otherwise.
Religious scholars have also stated that the vaccine does not invalidate the fast. “The vaccine does not invalidate the fast, however, the vaccine should be preferably taken after Iftar in the evening,” Mufti Mubarak Naumani of Darul Uloom Misbah ul Haq told Excelsior.