Special Covid jab camps for professionals at Ghaziabad’s high-rises from 5pm

The drive has been put in place to cater to beneficiaries who go to offices on a regular basis, and are unable to get the jab during the daytime

The health department in Ghaziabad will hold an evening Covid-19 vaccination drive at localities having the working class at high-rise buildings as many such people are unable to go to the usual day-time Covid vaccination centres (CVCs) for getting the jab, officials said on Thursday.

The Covid-19 vaccination camps will be set up at Noida high-rises from 5pm to 8pm, barring Sundays. (Sakib Ali/HT)

The vaccination camps will be set up from 5pm to 8pm daily, barring Sundays.

The drive has been put in place to cater to beneficiaries who go to offices on a regular basis, and are unable to get the jab during the daytime, the officials added. The daytime CVCs usually operate between 9am and 5pm.

The scheme has been initially chalked out for 10 days, during which teams of the district health department will go to different high-rises for administering vaccination to the residents.

“We have decided that health department teams will hold the vaccination camps from 5pm to 8pm every day, barring Sundays. We urge resident welfare associations (RWAs) and apartments owners’ associations (AOAs) of the high-rises to get in touch with us regarding this. We will arrange evening Covid vaccination centres for them,” said Dr GP Mathuria, nodal officer for Covid-19 vaccination.

“We have already conducted one such camp at a high-rise in the Raj Nagar Extension, where 183 beneficiaries came to get the jab. The evening vaccination drive will benefit beneficiaries as health department teams will be available at their door steps, and the coverage will also increase with time,” Mathuria added.

The district health department has been conducting evening vaccination camps in rural segments, including Modinagar, Bhojpur, and Loni among other places from time to time, with a total of 11,500 beneficiaries being vaccinated within 10 days.

“The evening vaccination drive will benefit people who come late from offices and usually do not get time to visit CVCs during the daytime. This will help increase the vaccination coverage, which will finally benefit residents by providing protection against the Covid-19 infection,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association, Ghaziabad chapter.

It is estimated that Ghaziabad has nearly 400 high-rises, mostly located in Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Kaushambi, Raj Nagar Extension, and Crossings Republik among others.

According to the CoWIN portal figures till Thursday evening, Ghaziabad has administered 3,273,044 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the people, including 1,044,043 second doses.

“We have been in touch with the health department for the evening vaccination camps for the past two to three days. Initially, they were of the view that such a camp will be set up in a high-rise building only if we have 200 registrations. However, they have done away with it. So, we have communicated to our respective member AOAs about the initiative, and we all will support it completely,” said Alok Kumar, founder member of Federation of Apartment Owners Association.