Bihar: Pakaridayal first Nagar Panchayat to give first dose to all eligibles

East Champaran’s Pakaridayal has become the state’s first Nagar Panchayat where all eligible people have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine while fighting against alleged reluctance by various groups, officials said on Saturday

East Champaran’s Pakaridayal has become the state’s first Nagar Panchayat where all eligible people have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine while fighting against alleged reluctance by various groups, officials said on Saturday.

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This comes few days after Bankatwa, Raxaul and Motihari--all in East Champaran--became Bihar’s first block, municipal council and municipal corporation, respectively, to achieve the target.

Confirming the same, East Champaran district magistrate Shrisat Kapil Ashok attributed the success to all stake holders, including health agencies such as WHO and UNICEF, besides the state government.

“We did face hesitancy from few sections of the society. However, if countries like Iran and Spain can achieve total vaccination, there is hardly any reason as to why we could not. This was the motivator for our team here, besides the state government’s assistance in allocation of vaccines,” said the district magistrate.

The district’s vaccination team enlisted support from religious leaders, influential persons, and all sections of the societies aided by political parties to build up a popular opinion for vaccines, the DM said.

The team of vaccinators comprising UNICEF personnel and local health workers and professionals inoculated 14,902 people of the 15,000 eligible population (above the age of 18 ) dwelling in 15 wards of Pakaridayal Nagar Panchayat. The Panchayat has a total eligible population of 18,447, including migrant workers who are currently not living in the area, as per 2020 electoral roll.

“The remaining 98 are pregnant women. They will be administered the vaccine later. Over 3,000 of the total eligible population are non-residents of Nagar Panchayat. They will be administered the shot whenever they return and if found not inoculated,” said Kumar Ravindra, sub divisional magistrate (SDM), Pakaridayal.

However, the vaccination team faced challenges in carrying out the drive, officials said. Maulana Md Noorullah, Imam of Amana Masjid, said he had to resort to announcement from the mosque twice to encourage participation from his community. “There was a distinct hesitancy owing to sheer lack of knowledge and rumours. However, the mindset changed after I took the shot in front of the public in a bid to motivate people,” he said.

The district administration, however, had to take to some tricks as well in inoculating all eligible people. “In the first place, we administered vaccines to all Public Distribution System (PDS) officials and their family members. Later, pressure was brought upon some reluctant people to either get vaccinated or be denied ration,” said the SDM.