Hyderabad Mosques Start Free Vaccination Drive Over Omicron Fears

After the Omicron outcome, Telangana state officials have stepped forward to organise vaccination clinics in mosques in some parts of the Old City. In order to rescue the state from the Omicron, Muslim social workers and religious leaders wanted to take this step. This immunisation drive is held in partnership with the Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), a local non-governmental organization, and SEED, a US-based non-governmental organization.

As a part of this vaccination drive, more than 100 volunteers, counselors, vaccinators, data entry operators, supervisors, and support personnel are planning to go door to door to inoculate people in around 100 slums of Old City. 

The preliminary assessment survey reports claim that more than 35 percent of adults have not completed their first dose of vaccination and 67 percent of people have not gotten their second dose of vaccination in the catchment area of 20 slums.

AIMIM Legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi has said that three mosques in Rajendranagar, Hasanagar, and Shaheen Nagar will lead the vaccination drives. He further stated that during Friday prayers, imams at mosques will also debunk vaccination rumours and will emphasise the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination.

Earlier, when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the mosques in Hyderabad came forward to help in fighting the deadly virus. In July this year, when the COVID secondwave hit the country badly, a mosque in Rajendranagar was converted into a COVID isolation centre, and later three mosques in the same area were converted into post-COVID care centres.