Nilgiris to vaccinate tribal population by month-end

Udhagamandalam: The Nilgiris is all set to complete the vaccination of its tribal population soon.
According to the district administration, they have already inoculated all the eligible residents of 300 of the 427 tribal hamlets on the hills. The drive is on to vaccinate the remaining tribal population by this month end.
District collector J Innocent Divya confirmed that their target was to vaccinate the tribal population before the month end.“Initially, they were not inclined to get inoculated. We then created awareness among them through various programmes. They are getting their jab at their doorsteps now.”
It is to be noted that 21,435 of the 27,032 tribals in the district are eligible for vaccination. A few NGOs that work with the tribals are assisting the district administration in the vaccination drive.
The collect said around 17,500 tribals had taken the shot so far. “They constitute 82% of tribal population eligible for vaccination.”
The tribal communities in the Nilgiris include Todas, Kotas, Paniyas, Kurumbas, Irulas and Kattunayakans.
Chemmanatham tribal hamlet in Masinagudi panchayat was the first tribal hamlet in the state to get fully vaccinated. All the 152 eligible people in the hamlet were inoculated on a single day on June 6, when the health minister launched the vaccination camp there.
In all, the Nilgiris has vaccinated 2.7 lakh of the 5.8 lakh eligible population. The hill retreat has a population of 7.2 lakh.
“We have vaccinated 46% of the eligible population so far. More people will be inoculated in the coming days. We will complete the drive at the earliest to top the state, if possible,” the collector said. The district on an average inoculates 3,000 people a day.