The name hardly rings a bell. Tuesday onwards, it will be on many Indians’ lips.
Weyan, a remote hamlet in Jammu & Kashmir’s Bandipora district, has become the first village in India to have vaccinated its entire adult population against COVID-19.
District officials credited healthcare workers for their sincere efforts overcoming odds to ensure that all 362 adults of Weyan hamlet have been administered the COVID vaccine.
That may seem a very small number, but the logistics will tell you why it was a job well done.
Weyan is located just 28 kilometres from Bandipora district headquarters, but there is no motorable road over half that distance, so an 18 km stretch has to be covered by foot.
Bandipora’s Chief Medical Officer Bashir Ahmed Khan said the task was even more difficult as there are several nomadic families in the village whose members go up the mountains for grazing their livestock.
“There is no internet access in the village. So it was not possible for the villagers to get vaccination appointments,” said Bashir.
Vaccination in the union territory is being carried out under the ‘J & K Model’ — a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire eligible population at accelerated pace.
It has worked to some extent as 70 per cent among the 45-plus age group have been inoculated, which is almost double the national average, the official claimed.
