Himachal Govt targets 1st dose for all in tribal, hard areas by June 25

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 18

The state government is aiming to provide the first dose of the Covid vaccine to 100 per cent eligible population in the tribal areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, the Pangi region of Chamba district and the hard areas of Dodra-Kwar in Shimla district by June 25 through on-the-spot sessions. To achieve the target, sessions will be held everyday, including on Sundays and holidays, if required.

In the strategy announced today for vaccination post-June 21, the government removed the condition of online slot booking for the tribal, hard and rural areas of the state. The modality of online slot booking in the 18-44 years age group would, however, continue in the urban areas. “Urban areas will be considered places under the direct control of municipal corporations or NACs or nagar panchayats. Here, sessions would be published on the online slot booking mode only,” said a government spokesperson. “All online sessions in urban areas will be published one day before the proposed date between 12 noon and 1 pm,” he added.

Under the new strategy, the target beneficiaries have been divided into Category A and B. “For Category A beneficiaries, the sessions will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (including gazetted holidays) and for Category B beneficiaries, the sessions will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (including gazetted holidays). No session will be held on Sundays,” said the spokesperson. He said that under the new vaccination drive, 2.5 lakh doses of Covishield had been supplied to the state.

Truck & taxi unions in new priority groups

People associated with truck unions, private bus operators, taxi unions and the hotel industry have been identified as priority groups for the purpose of vaccination. The bus, taxi, or truck operators or the hotel owners shall issue the specific formats for identification or certification for the purpose of registration and authentication on the CoWIN portal.