From June 15, walk-in shots at Noida’s pvt hospitals

NOIDA: In a bid to boost Covid immunisation figures in Gautam Budh Nagar, the district administration has allowed the private hospitals to start paid walk-in vaccination facilities from June 15, officials said

NOIDA: In a bid to boost Covid immunisation figures in Gautam Budh Nagar, the district administration has allowed the private hospitals to start paid walk-in vaccination facilities from June 15, officials said.

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The GB Nagar district magistrate, Suhas LY, said that eligible persons would not be required to register themselves on the Co-WIN app to get vaccinated at a private facility.

“Until April 30, the state government was supplying vaccine doses to private hospitals. However, after the Centre allowed the vaccination for people in the 18-45 years age group, private hospitals were instructed to make their own arrangements and procure vaccines directly from manufacturers,” he said.

At present, the vaccination is being done at 64 government-run centres, while only two-three private hospitals are providing vaccine, the officials said.

The DM said that in a recent meeting with representatives of private hospitals in the district, they were asked to help boost the vaccination drive by holding paid camps.

“Vaccinations are mostly being carried out at government centres. However, some private hospitals have partnered with RWAs to set up camps in several residential sectors of the city,” he said.

Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer (CMO) of GB Nagar, said that the district administration’s decision will reduce the pressure on public health-care facilities. “With the paid vaccination facilities at the private hospitals, the rush at different government-run booths will come down,” he said.

Ohri said that two private hospitals in the district have begun the vaccination from Saturday (May 29), but till June 15, people will have to register themselves on Co-WIN app, even for inoculation at the private facilities.

Meanwhile, several private hospitals in the district have started preparations for the vaccination drive beginning at their places from Tuesday.

Ajit Kumar, director (public relations) of Sharda hospital, said that the hospital has already purchased 12,000 doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India. “As many as 15 teams, comprising doctors, nurses and paramedics, have been made for two vaccination centres located on the campus. Each centre will have two to three booths and the target set for the first week is 10,000 vaccinations. Our target group will be different residential societies. The rate for a vaccine dose will be ₹850,” he said.

Dr Yatharth Tyagi, director of Yatharth hospital, said that the vaccination is already taking place in his hospital since last week. “At present, we are unable to provide Covaxin jabs to a large number of people. But, since our consignments have already been shipped, we hope to cater to at least 1,000 persons per day from next week,” he said.

On the other hand, a spokesperson of Fortis hospital in Noida said that the hospital will provide vaccines as per the choice of the people. “The price for one dose of Covishield is ₹850, while it’ll be ₹1,250 for Covaxin. Our daily target will depend on the availability of vaccines. However, we aim to vaccinate around 1,000 people on Sundays,” he said.

Dr NK Sharma, president of Noida chapter of Indian Medical Association, said that the government’s decision to allow paid walk-in vaccination at private hospitals “will provide a vaccination cover to maximum number of people in the district”.