DEHRADUN: India celebrating the milestone of 100 crore vaccinations is a good time to look at the role of the frontline and healthcare workers. In the hill state of Uttarakhand, their job was full of danger. Not only did they have to fight false perceptions about the vaccine, movement was also risky considering the trek through treacherous heights.
That they had done a good job became evident on October 18, when the state government announced that 100% of the eligible population had received the first dose. The unsung heroes said they just did what was their duty and would do it again if the need arose. Madhvi Pant, an auxiliary nurse midwife from Pithoragarh, said, “My colleagues and I trekked tens of kilometers of hilly terrains full of risks including landslides, attacks from wild animals to administer doses. Many times, it was difficult to convince people in the villages. But we had a resolve to do the job. We will be at it again if need be.”
Uttarakhand has 13 districts, of which nine are completely hilly — Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Almora and Bageshwar. Nainital and Dehradun have mixed terrains. Only Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar are considered districts in the plains.
In many of these hill districts, heath workers trekked 10-20 kilometers to vaccinate people in remote villages. The state has hundreds of villages without motorable roads at an altitude of nearly 2,800 metres. Health workers had to walk 15-18 kilometers to vaccinate residents of these places.
Health worker Sonam Rawat said, “Though we know the hills as we are born and brought up here, it does not negate dangers like rains, landslides, vaccine hesitancy, animal attacks and others. But the job had to be done. This was our duty.”
It was similar in East Kameng district of Arunachal and border villages of Kashmir, where health workers conducted evening sessions and trekked 15 kms to do the job.
(Inputs from Prasanta Mazumdar in Guwahati & Fayaz Wani in Srinagar)