GB Nagar residents fret over ‘complex’ process for vaccination of those undertaking foreign travel

Several Gautam Budh Nagar residents have described the process to get the second Covishield dose on priority for those undertaking foreign travel as “highly complicated” with multiple trips to the chief medical officer’s (CMO) office in Sector 39 both before and after the vaccination administered at the Sector 30 District Hospital

Several Gautam Budh Nagar residents have described the process to get the second Covishield dose on priority for those undertaking foreign travel as “highly complicated” with multiple trips to the chief medical officer’s (CMO) office in Sector 39 both before and after the vaccination administered at the Sector 30 District Hospital.

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Last month, the central government had allowed those travelling to other countries - Olympic athletes and those going for study or for jobs- to get their second Covishield dose after just four weeks of the first dose, same as that for Covaxin, instead of the regular 12-to-16 week gap. Gautam Budh Nagar started this facility on June 16.

“First, an application has to be submitted to the CMO office (Room no 1, Block no 2) along with a copy of the passport, copy of first dose vaccination certificate and a proof of travel with reason. The above documents can be collected with authorisation letter for the vaccine on the next working day and get the vaccination at the Sector 30 District Hospital at 2 pm. After the vaccination, they need to come back to the CMO office with all documents for certificate attestation,” said CMO Dr Deepak Ohri.

Although it may seem that the process will get over in two days, practically it is longer, said several people.

“When we went to the CMO office the day after submitting the documents, we were told to come the next day again. On the third day, we finally got the approved documents and proceeded to the District Hospital. There we were told to get a photocopy of all the documents. We had to go outside the hospital to get the copies and then get the vaccine,” said Sector 50 resident Rahul Dwivedi whose daughter had to leave for the USA to resume college. “Then we had to wait for around two hours to get the vaccine and then go to the CMO office again. This to and fro is a hassle.”

Sector 45 resident Mandhata Singh’s daughter too had to leave for the USA for her education and they too had a similar experience.

“The whole process should be at one stop centre so that residents do not have to run from one place to another. If the document approval and vaccine administration process is all done at one place, it will be convenient for the beneficiaries,” said Singh.

Rajiva Singh, president of the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations suggested that the district follow the Delhi model. “In Delhi, there is a separate vaccination centre where the documents are checked and vaccines administered,” said Singh.

The two centres in Delhi are the Navyug School in Mandir Marg and the Kautilya Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya at Chirag Enclave.

According to CMO Dr Ohri, so far around 250 people have been vaccinated on priority this way.

“In one day only around 25 beneficiaries undertaking foreign travel are being given second dose of vaccine and creating a special centre for them is not feasible. Moreover, no such issue has been formally raised to the department so far,” he said.