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All eligible residents of Kharela village in Jhansi have been vaccinated with the first dose against COVID-19, making it a model village for Uttar Pradesh and setting the bar high for vaccinating rural masses.
“With the sustained efforts of the UP government and awareness campaigns by Surveillance committees, all 310 eligible beneficiaries of Kharela village were administered the first dose of Covid vaccine. The village located in Moth block has a population of around 568 inhabitants, out of which 310 were eligible to be vaccinated The Jhansi district administration managed to successfully help the villagers in overcoming vaccine hesitancy,” a government spokesman said in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Expressing happiness over the feat, Jhansi’s District Magistrate Andre Wamsi said, “We do congratulate the entire village, surveillance team, Health department officials, ASHA, ANM, Panchayati Raj department, Revenue department, self-help groups, local farmer producer organisations (FPOs) for this unique achievement. The cluster model approach adopted by the administration worked well in the villages along with community participation. The administration ensured there was zero wastage of the vaccine.”
Of the total beneficiaries, around 205 were vaccinated in the 18-44 age category and nearly 105 got their dose in the 45 plus age group which included 147 females and 163 males, who got their first dose of the vaccine.
“We faced a lot of resistance initially from villages due to lack of awareness. Then we asked the surveillance committees to run awareness campaigns in the village. Members of surveillance committees went door-to-door and told the residents about the benefits of the vaccine and encouraged them to get the jabs,” Andre Wamsi said.
Officials said that at present their focus was on another set of villages of the district, where the vaccination drive was in full swing and they expected to achieve 100 per cent coverage in these villages soon.
Newly-elected and first woman gram pradhan of Kharela, Sangeeta Yadav, said,” In view of the threat of the third wave of COVID-19, this was an important step taken by the villagers for their safety and they should be complimented for awareness. I would like to appeal to all to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
A few days ago, Nota village of Bangra block in Jhansi, became the first village to achieve 100 per cent vaccination target with all its 2,447 inhabitants in the 18 plus age group getting the first jab.