Darj group starts vax drive for elderly

SNS, DARJEELING, 20 JUNE 21 : A non-profit organisation in Darjeeling has started Covid vaccination for people above the age of 70 and for people with special needs by setting up camps in their own respective areas.

However, Darjeeling Initiative (DI) said they will not be providing vaccines to these sections of people at their homes as announced by them earlier, but in an easily accessible place that they can go to.

"We are doing this through the Vaccine Access Initiative with the first such camp already held at Mangalpuri, where 72 people were vaccinated. Data collection is also going along. We are asking different area committees to give us the figures as to how many such people are there in their community. Once we get the figures, we will provide it to the District hospital, which in turn will provide us with the vaccine doses," said Roshan Lama of the DI.

The DI had already been working  with various local area committees before  this project started. They have also been working with the Edward Foundation through their project CARE (Critical Aid Response), through which they are providing  medical equipment.

"Training was given to our volunteers on things like data operations, protocols of vaccination among other things, by the Darjeeling hospital," Mr Lama said.

According to Mr Lama, this was a joint venture of the Liver Foundation in Kolkata, Covid Care Network and the West Bengal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"We are starting this in Darjeeling first, in which we will be covering the municipality area as well as the rural area. We will then see what can be done for the rest of the GTA area. Our main aim is to vaccinate a maximum number of people before the third wave begins," Mr Lama said.

He also maintained that they were also collecting data of people like porters who do not have identity proofs as demanded by the working district administration.