Ineligible people book slots at camps meant for parents of kids under 12 years

The special vaccination camps for parents of children younger than 12 years saw many ineligible people arrive for the shot, including unmarried persons, in both Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar on Tuesday, the first day of these camps

The special vaccination camps for parents of children younger than 12 years saw many ineligible people arrive for the shot, including unmarried persons, in both Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar on Tuesday, the first day of these camps.

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The camps are called “Abhibhavak” on the Co-WIN portal with the disclaimer that it is meant “exclusively for parents of children below 12 years of age”.

Both districts had two such camps each and the turnout was relatively poor.

The camps were at Kailash Manasarowar Bhawan in Indirapuram and Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, Meerut Road (DPSG). Only 75 out of the total 200 doses were used.

“More than 50 people who arrived at DPSG did not have children. Many said they had booked the slots in haste to get the shot and overlooked the eligibility criteria. So, we turned them all away,” said an officer from health department deployed at the centre.

An official at the Indirapuram centres said 10 to 12 people had been turned away over similar reasons.

“Such issues crop up on the inaugural day. We ask those bookings slots to carefully check their respective categories,” said Ghaziabad chief medical officer Dr N K Gupta.

GB Nagar health department said they could vaccinate only 137 people out of the 300 they had expected at the Bisrakh primary health centre and JP International School centres.

“Many ineligible people also booked their slots here,” said Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer of GB Nagar.

The special camps were created on directions from the UP government. The government has been stressing on protecting children who could contract the virus in the event of a third wave of infections.

“The staff deployed at the centre was very cooperative and they guided us through the entire process. Further, the arrangement at the school premises was also up to the mark with proper seating, drinking water and other arrangements. Otherwise, people expect they have to stand in long queues and face troubles at government centres,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a beneficiary from Shastri Nagar.

Vaccination centres in schools:

Several schools have also come forward and opted to provide their premises as vaccination centre.

“We started as an isolation centre from April 5 to May 21 and it was also an oxygen aid centre. About 70 patients got benefitted. Now, we have taken a short break and preparing for a vaccination centre with 2000-3000 vaccination proposed in a day. This will be through a private hospital,” said Trilok Singh Bisht, principal of DPSG, Vasundhara.

The other school of DPSG, Meerut Road started operations as vaccination centre from May 24.

“Our overall target is about 500 vaccines per day, and we have also initiated session for parents from Tuesday. We have developed two adverse events following immunisation rooms and also a selfie point where people can take selfies when they come for vaccination. We have also allowed old-aged people to enter the premises in cars and even some of them were given the shots in cars. Proper arrangement of wheel-chairs and other basic facilities is also provided by the school,” said Yogesh Agarwal, admin officer of DPSG, Meerut Road.

The members of federation of apartment owners said that they have tied up with Max Hospital at Vaishali for vaccination and they have decided that the process will be taken up at a nearby school which is walking distance.

“Earlier we planned to get vaccination done at our highrises but now we have decided along with hospital authorities that it will be done at a nearby school, and it has proper facilities. So far, we have about 40 highrises in Indirapuram whose residents wish to take up vaccination. School premises will be convenient as people from other areas like Vasundhara, Vaishali and other can also come and take jabs,” said Alok Kumar, founder member of federation of association of apartment owners.

The officials from Max Hospital said that they will be going live with the vaccination process from Tuesday.

“The first day will be a dry run during which we will also assess about the arrangements. The premises is decided at a school, and we plan to take up about 3000-4000 vaccination per day. At our hospital, we have a daily average of about 1000 doses. So, overall, we will take up about 5000 vaccination per day,” said an officer from Max Hospital.