In a first, UP’s Ghaziabad administers over 100,000 Covid vaccine doses in a day

The state government had given Ghaziabad a target to administer 87,000 vaccine doses on Monday, while officials aimed to administer about 130,000 doses as they had a stock of about 180,000 doses for the sixth mega vaccination drive

During the sixth mega coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination drive on Monday, Ghaziabad administered over 100,000 doses in a single day for the first time.

According to CoWIN portal figures till 8.30pm on Monday, Ghaziabad district had administered a total of 2,716,164 doses till Monday, including 738,712 second doses. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

According to the CoWIN portal, Ghaziabad was one of three Uttar Pradesh districts to administer over 100,000 doses on Monday. The district administered 107,819 doses till 8.30pm on Monday, while Lucknow and Prayagraj administered 174,340 and 115,726, respectively.

During the first mega vaccination drive on August 3, the district administered 79,822 doses and during the second mega vaccination drive on August 16, the district administered 42,444 doses. It administered 67,040 doses during the third mega drive on August 27 and 69,248 doses during the fourth drive held on September 6. During the fifth mega drive on September 17, the district administered 74,635 doses.

The state government had given Ghaziabad a target to administer 87,000 vaccine doses on Monday, while officials aimed to administer about 130,000 doses as they had a stock of about 180,000 doses for the sixth mega vaccination drive.

“We surpassed the official target easily, but could not touch the figure of 130,000 doses we were aiming for. It was largely attributed to traffic jams on major roads due to the farmers’ protest and the Bharat Bandh call. Still, people turned up in large numbers and got themselves vaccinated. We allowed online slot booking and walk-in facilities for all age groups,” said Dr GP Mathuria, nodal officer for Covid-19 vaccination.

“The CoWIN portal was slow for about an hour from 11am to 12pm as well as for some time later in the day. This generally happens when the turnout is high. But our teams still achieved the district’s highest single-day figure ever since the first vaccination drive on January 16,” he added.

The officials of the district health department said that they roped in about 800 doctors and medical staff to operate 257 Covid-19 vaccination centres (CVCs), which also included seven malls in Kaushambi, Vaishali, Indirapuram and Ghaziabad city. Malls were roped in for the first time to provide residents with the vaccination facility from 4pm to 8pm.

“It was the first time we engaged seven big malls in the city and introduced evening vaccination camps, which started at 4pm and ended by 8pm. Vaccination camps were held in two malls from the morning. Malls were roped in so that people coming there with families after office hours could get themselves vaccinated with ease. This engagement with malls also boosted the vaccination coverage,” said Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar, chief medical officer.

The Indirapuram Habitat Centre (IHC) CVC saw long queues in the morning as beneficiaries arrived in large numbers from localities like Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Khoda and Sahibabad, among others.

“Since morning we had long queues of people who arrived to take the Covid-19 vaccine. Due to heavy rush, we also operated a different queue for women beneficiaries.,” said Sumit Sharma, manager (operations) at IHC.

“I had come with my neighbour to get her vaccinated and we arrived at the centre at around 9.30am. However, due to heavy rush and the new token system, our turn came around 1pm. So, I had to take a whole day’s leave from my office. I think the token system and the verification and vaccination process should be simplified,” said Sumit Upadhaya, a resident of Khoda, who was at the IHC.

According to CoWIN portal figures till 8.30pm on Monday, Ghaziabad district had administered a total of 2,716,164 doses till Monday, including 738,712 second doses.

In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is leading with the administration of 3,725,630 doses in total, while Ghaziabad occupies the second spot.