Noida: Only UP residents eligible for vaccination of 18-45 group

NOIDA: Many people in the 18-45 years age group, who visited the drive-through sites in Gautam Budh Nagar on Tuesday, had to return without getting their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as they did not have a residence proof of Uttar Pradesh

NOIDA: Many people in the 18-45 years age group, who visited the drive-through sites in Gautam Budh Nagar on Tuesday, had to return without getting their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as they did not have a residence proof of Uttar Pradesh. They said that while booking their slots on Co-WIN app, there was no rider for essentially being a UP resident.

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The vaccination for the 18-45 age group started in GB Nagar on Tuesday. District administration officials said that only those having a state residence proof can avail the facility, citing an order by the state’s mission director of the National Health Mission (NHM). The officials said that residents of UP can show any documents like electricity bill and lease/rent agreement, among others, to prove their residency.

Kailash Tyagi, a 28-year-old IT professional who is a resident of Yojna Vihar in Delhi, said that he had to return from the vaccination site at GIP mall in Noida, without getting the jab. “I had registered on Co-WIN app and was allotted a slot of 12pm to 2pm here. But as I am a Delhi resident, the vaccination staff straightaway refused to give me the dose, showing me a notification issued by the GB Nagar district administration,” he said.

Thirty two-year-old Sandhya Singh, a resident of Shahdara in east Delhi, met the similar fate at her allotted inoculation booth in Pathways School in Noida Sector 100. “The vaccination officials showed me the door saying that the vaccine doses are only for permanent or temporary residents of UP,” she said.

When contacted, Vandita Srivastava, additional district magistrate (finance) who issued the notification recently, justified the administration’s address rider on vaccination drive for the 18+ group. “The cost of vaccine doses for people aged 45 years and above is being borne by the central government. But, as the UP government has procured vaccines for the 18-45 group using money from the state exchequer, our aim is to benefit maximum number of people from the state,” she said.

Srivastava further said that the district administration is not denying vaccines even to the temporary residents in the state. “Eligible people can show any document that establishes UP as their temporary or permanent place of living and they’ll get the shots. We can’t give the valuable vaccines meant for the UP residents to the people from neighbouring states. We’ve asked the staff at all vaccination booths to strictly adhere to the orders issued by the district administration,” the ADM said.

The officials made it clear that this rule doesn’t apply to Noida’s private hospitals where paid vaccination is being carried out.