Himachal Pradesh, a state with its varied climatic conditions, thickly forested valleys and difficult passes, has become India’s first state to vaccinate 100% eligible population with both doses as the country’s cumulative vaccination coverage exceeded 127.61cr on Sunday.
The state, which has been chasing a target of 53.77,820 eligible population, crossed the mark of 53.87 lakhs on Saturday. The state's total population is 75 lakhs.
Union Minister for Health Mansukh Manadaviya said the Himachal Pradesh model will be replicated in other states in the country.
BJP national President J P Nadda reached out to the people of the state upon the landmark achievement in Himachal Pradesh’s fight against Covid-19, which had claimed over 3,835 lives and left the state’s economy, mainly tourism, derailed completely.
The day witnessed a befitting treat for Himachal Pradesh as Nadda also inaugurated the OPD block of upcoming AIIMS, Bilaspur– his pet project in his native town started during his term as union health minister.
Himachal Pradesh’s vaccination success has several highlights, some of which Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur narrated as how the vaccine was flown to Bara-Bengal, a totally landlocked area of Kangra district, where health workers reached by foot in four days.
“We took the doses to vaccinate the entire population using helicopters as Deputy Commissioner Dr Nipun Jindal himself flew there. In another village, Malana, an ancient population was not prepared to be vaccinated unless local devta granted permission. “He recalled that Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg was sent there to accomplish the task. Helicopter was used to carry the doses and medical staff for Dodra Kawar, another remote area in Shimla.
“There were dense forests, rivulets, mountain passes and valleys which the health workers travelled on foot to vaccinate the eligible population,” he narrated .
The state’s achievement gains some political meaning as it comes ahead of the next year’s polls. It comes at a time the BJP has been trying to hard-sell its achievement in the country projecting Himachal as a small state where leadership of Narendra Modi has helped to achieve a big success.
