Under a special vaccination drive for transgender people in Assam’s Guwahati, thirty members of the community have received their first Covid19 jab, according to media reports. The drive was carried out with the support of state’s Health Department, and will cover more districts in the coming week.
The vaccination was carried out at shelter home for transgender persons. “As a marginalized group, they were getting left out of the vaccination process and when we requested the health department, we got a very positive response. They helped with the logistics and we were able to start the vaccination drive without any glitch,” said Swati Bidhan Baruah, founder of the All Assam Transgender Association and associate vice-chairperson of Assam government’s transgender welfare board.
“We decided to start the special drive for the community to ensure they don’t get left out of the vaccination process. We will continue to provide them with the required doses so that the drive can continue and cover every transgender person in the state,” said Munindra Nath Ngatey, director, health services (family welfare).