‘Duare Vaccine’ in remote Alipurduar villages

Probably that’s called dedication and a will to win the war against COVID-19. When most medical practitioners and doctors across the world are stressing upon vaccination being the only weapon to beat COVID-19, West Bengal government has set a precedence. Not only is it the state that is among the top 5 in India in giving maximum doses of vaccines to maximum people, but has reached remotest areas of the state to vaccinate people door to door. From the erstwhile French town of Chandernagar, where a door-to-door vaccination was started recently for elderly people by MLA Indranil Sen, to the North Bengal district of Alipurduar, where the district administration is sending health workers, who are trekking miles in a mountainous terrain this monsoon to reach out to vaccine beneficiaries.

Take for example villages like Adma and Dukpa, that fall under Buxa Reserve Forest beat of Alipurduar. The village is so remote, that one has to cross 5 mountain ranges to reach the spot. Surendra Kumar Meena, District Magistrate of Alipurduar, made it a point to reach there too. The tribe that resides in this village were overwhelmed at this gesture, for they too know only vaccines will protect them from the deadly virus. The roads at places are literally absent, some washed away in the monsoon rains. At places the health officials had to crawl to reach the village, that is at a height of around 1,800 feet above the sea level and is the last village on the Bhutan border. The vaccine team started around 3am in the morning from Alipurduar town and by the time they reached their destination, it was almost dusk. This reflects how far and how arduous the journey was!

It’s clear that the state government will keep no stone unturned in their fight against COVID. Not just vaccines, even these villagers have received rations, regular food and medicines during the Pandemic. The villagers in this remote area said: “Such gestures make them feel belonged, they feel they are part of West Bengal as they are also remembered by the administration.”