Uttarakhand orders additional COVID-19 vaccines ahead of Char Dham Yatra

Additional COVID-19 vaccines have been consigned to the districts in Uttarakhand which fall on the way of Chardham Yatra. As per the instructions of CM Tirath Singh Rawat ahead of the opening of Chardham Yatra, districts of Chamoli, Uttarakashi, Rudraprayag, along with Tehri and Pauri have been prescribed supplementary quota of vaccines. 

With Chardham Yatra beginning for locals on July 1, additional COVID vaccine doses were made available to locations where the four Himalayan temples are located and those which are on the way to the four Himalayan shrines.

Priests will be inoculated

The CM has also instructed to vaccinate everybody in direct contact with pilgrims of the Yatra before it commenced. The action plan is formulated to ensure the safety of both the locals and the visitors.

Guidelines have been issued to the concerned officials to inoculate the priests, shopkeepers, dhaba operators, local residents, mule operators, cab drivers and other bodies timely associated with the Chardham Yatra.

Following the order, over 5000 additional doses each have been provided to the aforesaid districts while Uttarakashi received 10,000 additional doses of vaccines.

Chardham Yatra to begin on July 1

The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Friday decided to partially open the Chardham Yatra for locals (people of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Uttarkashi districts) from July 1. This comes along with the issuance of fresh guidelines for the pilgrimage. 

Government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal told ANI, "Bringing a negative RT-PCR/Rapid Antigen test report will be mandatory for every pilgrim and the standard operating procedure (SOPs) to be followed by pilgrims while visiting the temples will be issued separately."

On being asked about whether the Chardham Yatra will open for pilgrims from across Uttarakhand, Uniyal said that it was contingent on the overall COVID-19 situation.

"We have taken into account the predictions about the third wave of COVID-19 and the Delta mutant of the pandemic before we go ahead with the decision to open the yatra for the whole of the state," he added.

As per the data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Uttarakhand has 2,510 active cases. The state reported 164 fresh cases on Saturday. While 272 COVID-19 patients recovered, 2 persons succumbed to the infection. Now, state's death toll stands at 7,086.