Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], August 21 (ANI): The members of the eunuch and the transgender community in Siliguri received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday.

Hundreds of eunuchs and transgenders registered themselves as the third gender received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a special camp organised by the state Health and Family Welfare Department in association with the Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum (DDLAF).

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According to the members of the community, they were reluctant to take the vaccine earlier as they did not have proper information about the doses. Later, the health officials and members of DDLAF made them aware of the vaccination and take them in confidence. Following this, the members of the eunuch and the transgender community reached the camp to take the shot on Saturday.

Maina, a member of the third gender community said, "The health officials and DDLAF have been in touch with common people. So, I took the shot today. It is great that the government took this kind of initiative to vaccine people like us."

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Speaking to ANI, Amit Sarkar, President, Siliguri Legal Aid Forum said, "With the help of government, Darjeeling District Legal Forum took the initiative to vaccine third gender. It was not possible in the early days because of their lack of knowledge. But now they are ready to take the dose and around 25 per cent third gender people took the shot today and will do more special camps for the rest of the people in the coming future."

According to DDLAF, there are around 500 people from the third gender community living in the Darjeeling district. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)