2 villages have given first shots to all, 5 others set to follow

Gurgaon: Two villages of Gurgaon — Hamirpur and Khetawas — have now given at least one dose to their entire population eligible for Covid-19 vaccines, becoming the first to record 100% first doses. Another five villages — Aklimpur, Hasanpur, Khuntpuri, Meako and Nurpur — are likely to reach the mark by Friday.
With a projected population of 17,46,998 people who are eligible for vaccines, Gurgaon’s first dose coverage is now around 74%.
Gurgaon has so far administered 16,05,710 doses so far as per the Co-WIN portal, out of which 12,92,643 are first doses and 3,13,067 second doses.
Gurgaon has 234 villages. Hamirpur village has a population of 282, out of which 143 people were eligible for vaccination. All of them have received their first doses. Similarly, Khetawas has a population of 1,222 with 794 eligible for vaccination, all of whom have been inoculated with the first dose. The villagers needed some convincing to take the jab initially, which required several visits by health officials to their homes.
“I started a campaign on social distancing and cleanliness last year when cases started to be reported in other parts of Gurgaon. When we heard that a vaccine was available, we also pitched that to the people along with the health staff. We also had a lot of meetings with villagers and motivated them to get vaccinated,” Hamirpur sarpanch Sher Singh Chauhan (52) said.
He also said that he visited houses along with the health team to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Renu (26), the sarpanch of Khetawas village, said: “Everyone was motivated to get vaccinated because of constant awareness drives by ASHA workers in the area. Influential locals were also roped in to share their experiences of getting the jab.”
The health department said three Khetawas villagers aged above 90 years got their first jab in May and motivated others. “The older generation inspired the younger lot. This is how we achieved the 100% target. Health teams were constantly visiting every house in these villages to motivate and educate people regarding Covid,” Gurgaon chief medical officer Dr Virender Yadav told TOI.
He added, “It has not been an easy task. Our health teams are convincing residents daily. We are conducting regular meetings in every village of the district.”
The five other villages are likely to give all eligible people their first doses by Friday. While Aklimpur, which has a population of 2,050, has already given first doses to 800 out of 1,235 people who are above 18 years of age, Hasanpur (population 2,090) has administered 870 out of 1,200 eligible people their first doses. In Khuntpuri (population 889), 474 out of 609 people have taken their first doses.
Similarly, 385 out of 960 eligible people have got their first jabs in Nurpur, which has a population of 1,395. Meoka (population 1,442) has given first doses to 380 out of 860 eligible people.
Meanwhile, Gurgaon received 20,000 Covishield doses on Thursday. As many as 4,935 recipients in the 18-44 age group and 2,412 people in the 45-plus category were inoculated on the day.
A total of 71 healthcare staff and 65 frontline workers also got jabs. In all, 7,488 jabs were administered.