Odisha: VIMSAR holds special COVID vaccination outreach drive

SAMBALPUR:  In a bid to reduce the digital divide, Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla on Saturday conducted an outreach programme to vaccinate residents of the city who failed to register online due to lack of smartphones or computers.

The special drive was conducted at A Katapali area of the city on the day with two doctors, three nurses, two attendants and one data entry operator to facilitate the process. 

Vaccination programme coordinator of VIMSAR, Dr Sanjeeb Mishra said apart from the urban areas, many villages have also been included under the jurisdiction of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC).

“Many in those villages are deprived of internet access along with smartphones. Since the government has instructed to vaccinate as many people as possible in the urban areas, we decided to reach out to them on a pilot basis and administered jabs to 478 beneficiaries of both age groups,” added Mishra, further stating that more such sessions will be carried out to achieve high vaccination coverage.

The registration was done on-spot and people were asked to produce only their Aadhaar cards and phone numbers at the office of Ward No-2 at A Katapali.

The officials of SMC and police helped in the smooth management of the drive with strict adherence to Covid protocols.

Along side, a walk-in session was also conducted at the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) at Ainthapali in the city for people who could not register for vaccination due to various reasons.