Jhansi: All eligible residents of Kharela village in Jhansi district have been vaccinated with first dose against COVID-19, making it a model village for Uttar Pradesh.
Before Kharela, Nota village of the district attained the status of “100 percent vaccination”. These villages have set the bars high in vaccinating the rural masses.
With the sustained efforts of the UP Government and the awareness campaigns by the Surveillance committees, all 310 eligible beneficiaries of the village have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. On the directions of the state government, the district administration has managed to successfully help its villagers in overcoming their vaccine hesitancy.
The village situated in Moth block has a population of around 568, and out of it some 310 were eligible to be vaccinated.
Expressing happiness over the success, District Magistrate Andre Wamsi said here on Tuesday said, “We do congratulate the Entire Village, Surveillance Team, Health Department, ASHA, ANM, Panchayat Raj Department, Revenue Department, SHGs, Local FPOs for this achievement”. The cluster model approach adopted by the administration worked well in these villages along with the community participation. The administration ensured there was zero wastage of the vaccine.
Out of the total beneficiaries, around 205 have been vaccinated in the 18-44 category and nearly 105 got their dose in the 45+ age group. This includes 147 females and 163 males who have received their first dose of vaccination.
“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. The members of surveillance committees went from door-to-door and told about the benefits of vaccines and encouraged them to get vaccinated,” said Andre Wamsi.
Officials said at present their focus is on another set of villages of the district, where the vaccination drive is in full swing and they expect to achieve 100 per cent coverage in these villages soon.
The newly-elected first woman village head Sangeeta Yadav said,” In view of the threat of the third Covid wave, 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 them vaccinated as soon as possible”.
Few days ago village Nota, falling under Bangra block of the district, became the first village to achieve 100% vaccination target with all its 2,447 eighteen plus inhabitants getting the first jab. (UNI)
