Govt vaccination centres shut for 12 days in Ghaziabad due to lack of doses; 67% precaution jabs pending

The situation is likely to persist for another 10-12 days before new doses arrive, health officials said

Government Covid-19 vaccination centres in Ghaziabad have been shut since December 26 when district authorities exhausted their stock of Covishield, Covaxin and Corbevax vaccine doses.

A closed vaccination center inside a government hospital at Sanjay Nagar in Ghaziabad on Friday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

No government vaccination centre was open in Ghaziabad on Friday, according to the CoWin portal, and the situation is likely to persist for another 10-12 days before new doses arrive, health officials said.

“We are regularly following up with authorities for the vaccine stock and once we receive it, the vaccination process will restart as usual. As of now, government vaccination centres in Ghaziabad are not in operation due to non-availability of doses,” said GP Mathuria, nodal officer for Covid vaccination.

After the district’s vaccine stock was exhausted, the health department sent a request to the divisional store in Meerut for 30,000 doses each of Covishield, Covaxin and Corbevax, but the stock is yet to arrive.

Chief medical officer Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar and nodal officer Dr Neeraj Agarwal did not respond to requests for comment.

According to official data, Ghaziabad district had a target of vaccinating 2,844,305 beneficiaries since the Covid-19 vaccination programme started on January 16, 2021. The district surpassed this target by vaccinating 3,008,932 people with both doses (first and second dose) till January 6, data shows.

However, the slow rate of administering precaution dose and second dose coverage for senior citizens in the 60+ years age group has raised concerns amid reports of new Covid-19 strains spreading in China and other countries.

Official data from Ghaziabad shows that only 817,939 of 2,487,074 beneficiaries – 32.88% – have received their precaution dose. Of a target of 361,791 beneficiaries in the 60+ age group, only 298,653 have received both vaccine doses.

Experts said the incoming vaccine stock should be expedited and vaccination camps for senior citizens should be held locally.

“The issue of supply should be tackled at the earliest and on priority,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).