Photos: Kashmiri Health Workers Immunise Young and Old in Snowbound Budgam
'We are specially going for older people who can't walk in these conditions'
Despite the excruciating cold and snowbanked roads, health workers in the Kashmir Valley are braving harsh weather conditions and going door to door to vaccinate people. Here in Shunglipora Khag, a team of health workers arrives for their vaccination drive through the snowy winding lanes of this mountain region.
They walk for kilometres knocking on people’s doors to ensure they have got the jab. “It’s difficult to work in these areas, we can’t take our cars to these areas and we have to walk for 1-2 km along with the vaccine boxes and other things. Then we go door to door and motivate people to get these shots,” says Dr Savinder.
“We are also focusing on teenagers now. We have come to the outskirts of the Budgam area which is a far-flung area completely covered in snow, and are going to houses asking them to vaccinate. The recently started booster dose for people above the age of 60 is being done too. We are specially going for older people who can’t walk in these conditions,” she explains.
Doctors here say that there is no other way to get rid of covid but to vaccinate people in every corner of the Valley. Despite snow and sub-zero temperatures, doctors and staff are working continuously in the higher reaches of Kashmir.
Photographs BASIT ZARGAR for The Citizen