FOB Rajouri hosts webinar on ‘Vaccine hesitancy among nomadic population- Reasons & Panacea’

Rajouri:: Field Outreach Bureau (FOB), Rajouri & Press Information Bureau, Jammu, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India Wednesday organized a webinar on ‘Vaccine hesitancy among nomadic population, reasons and panacea’ in coordination with District Information Centre, Rajouri. The webinar completely focused on the potential acceptance or reluctance among the nomadic/tribal population of the district and the steps taken by the district administration like the awareness generation campaigns in the far-flung areas of the district.
In her introductory address, Neha Jalali, Deputy Director, Regional Outreach Bureau (ROB) J&K and PIB Jammu said that the biggest aim of conducting these webinars is to spread awareness among the tribal population of the district related to the COVID-19 vaccination and to clear the doubts if any by interacting with the health experts available during the webinar. She further elaborated that the Government of India and Jammu & Kashmir Government is taking all the necessary steps so that this vaccination process must reach the last man in the last queue and not a single person is left especially in the tribal areas to get vaccinated.
In his Keynote address, Surinder Mohan Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Koteranka said that the nomadic population being scattered is rather difficult to find to receive Covid19 vaccination but the timeline intervention of the district administration & Health Department made it possible to vaccinate majority of them in the hilly areas of Koteranka & Budhal. He further added that it’s the convergence and efforts of police, administration and health department that is yielding the fruitful results vis-à-vis Covid19 vaccination now.
Block Medical Officer, Darhal, Dr. Nagina Kousar, in her address, said that the public participation through awareness generation campaigns during the vaccination process created a positive thinking among the tribal population of the district and they came forward to get vaccinated. She further said that vaccination is the only way forward to win the war against Covid19 pandemic.
Dr. Iqbal Malik, BMO, Kandi emphasized on involving religious preachers to motivate the tribal population for Covid19 vaccination and dispelling the doubts.
Mohammad Ayoub Lone, Community Health Officer, Kandi gave certain examples of Covid19 vaccinated people who despite getting infected didn’t show any adverse symptoms compared to those who were not vaccinated & had to put on ventilators with adverse condition.
Besides officers of the district, ASHA Workers, Anganwari Workers, PRIs and students, Field Publicity Officer, Anantnag, Shahid Mohammad, Field Exhibition Officer, Kathua, Adil Shahmeem, Media and Communications Officer, PIB Jammu, Shiekh Mudasir, in charge FOB, Rajouri, Gurnaam Singh, in charge FOB, Kathua, Vijay Matoo, CDPO, Budhal, Khalil Mohamad, CDPO, Darhal, Karamat Begum were also present.
Tehsil Administration & Health Department Budhal and Darhal also extended their all round support in conducting this webinar.
The Webinar was moderated by Gurnaam Singh, in charge, Field Outreach Bureau, Rajouri.