The times are tough and the local bodies should wake up to the demands of the situation, which goes from bad to worse, says district panchayath president PP Divya. During the initial phase of covid spread, district panchad played a proactive role by setting up control rooms and providing home delivery facilties for the needy people in the district. But, the situation has only got worse, now.
People have become more fearful about the impact of the pandemic, and it is the duty of the local bodies to enter the fray and help those who are in need, said Divya. As part of playing an active role in containing the spread of virus during the second wave, the district panchayath has taken a decision to vaccinate around 4500 bedridden persons, registered under the palliative care programme of district panchayath, by reaching out to them in specially arranged vehicles. -"According to the data available with us, there are around 4500 bedridden persons, most of them above the age of 60, in the district, who have not yet taken even the first dose of vaccine-", said Divya.
-"Since they can not move out of the house without anybody's help, it would not be possible for them to go out and get the jabs. So we have decided to arrange facilities for them to get vaccination at their houses-", she said. -"We will start this programme, named Mobile Vaccine-", after May 1 as we would be able to arrange vehicles for this purpose by then. Our first priority will be the people above the age of 60 years-" she said. The programme will be implemented with the support of District Medical Office and National Health Mission. Once, this mission is over, the district panchayath is also planning to provide vaccination to the tribal people in the district, especially in Peravur and Iritty block panchayaths. -" Once we complete the vaccination of the bedridden patients in the district, we would focus on the tribals-", Divya said. -"We are also planning to give vaccinations to people who are undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious ailments-", she said. The district panchayath has contributed Rs. 1 crore to CMDRF in connection with the vaccine challenge on Monday.
