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Ghaziabad: Physically challenged travel miles to reach special vaccination camp
Ghaziabad: Sixty-year-old Bhagwat Swaroop, a resident of Loni who is physically challenged, was one of the 100 beneficiaries who toiled hard to reach the district headquarters in Ghaziabad on Wednesday to get a Covid-19 vaccine shot at the special camp organised for such people
Ghaziabad: Sixty-year-old Bhagwat Swaroop, a resident of Loni who is physically challenged, was one of the 100 beneficiaries who toiled hard to reach the district headquarters in Ghaziabad on Wednesday to get a Covid-19 vaccine shot at the special camp organised for such people. He said that despite his condition, he reached the vaccination site for which he had to travel about 22km.
The camp was organised at Vikas Bhawan by the district administration. The officials said that by the end of the day, with the help of some NGOs, they achieved 100% coverage and administered the vaccine to 100 beneficiaries who were in age groups 18-45 and above 45 years.
“Last week I got a call from Vikas Bhawan to attend the camp. I started around 8.30am and returned home by 2pm. I had to change three autos to reach the site. It was a tough task to go so far. It would have been better if the camp was organised in Loni. I also took my son-in-law along to help me out,” Swaroop said.
“When I reached the camp, I waited till 11.30 as the vaccine had not arrived. We were told that the camp will start at 10am,” he added.
Like Swaroop, many others reached the camp from far off places despite their physical condition, while some were brought in by NGOs through their transport.
Monu Kumar, another physically challenged man, also reached the camp from Jalalabad village in Muradnagar which is about 18km away from the district headquarters.
“I took a local transport to the main bus stand and then took a bus to reach the camp site. After waiting for 40-45 minutes, I got my first dose. It was a long journey for me considering my physical condition. A vaccination camp in Muradnagar would have been a better option for people like us,” he said.
Social activists said that the administration should avoid holding such camps at central locations.
“Instead, there should have been camps near to the residences of such people either at block level or at local body level. The administration should, in fact, reach out to such persons rather than calling them to their doorsteps. Travelling to and from the site would have been very painful for such beneficiaries amid high temperature. So, such camps should be completely avoided,” said Rajeev Sharma, a city-based human rights’ activist.
When approached about the issue, district’s chief development officer Asmita Lal said that the beneficiaries were willing to take up vaccination and arrived to attend the camp.
“We roped in NGOs which arranged buses to ferry many beneficiaries and also made proper arrangement at the camp. The camp also helped such persons in getting registrations, and henceforth they will get vaccinated in their respective areas at block level or their nearest community health centre. Our aim was to encourage vaccination among people of such groups as many were hesitant to come forward for vaccination,” she said.
