Vaccine shortage, staff crunch mar ‘second dose day’ in Ghaziabad

The district health department on Saturday administered only 4,758 second doses of Covid-19 vaccine, out of the total 6,521 given on the day

The district health department on Saturday administered only 4,758 second doses of Covid-19 vaccine, out of the total 6,521 given on the day. Officials attributed the low vaccination numbers to paucity of vaccine and also to shortage of staff who were busy with routine immunisation for children.

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Saturday is observed as the ‘second dose day’ as directed by the UP government to improve coverage of second dose in the state.

According to the Co-WIN portal, on August 14, the day when the ‘second dose day’ was started, the district administered 5,258 second doses (out of total 7,534). The average of the two second dose days is about 7,000 doses, while the district has administered a daily average of about 17,000 doses (total 136,216) from August 14 to August 21.

The figures also indicate that the district administered 43,654 second doses during the period at an average of about 5,456 doses per day.

The health officials said that they generally don’t have enough vaccine stock on Saturdays. “On August 14, we had about 7,500 doses and the figure for this Saturday was about 9,000. Further, our staff also get busy with routine immunisation on Saturday. However, we are trying to get more stock for Saturdays as well and hope to increase coverage of second dose,” said Dr GP Mathuria, nodal officer for Covid vaccination in Ghaziabad.

The government has allowed walk-in facility for the day while giving 9am-11am slot preference to beneficiaries who book them online.

Experts said the official figures indicate that there is hardly any benefit of the ‘second dose day’. “Maximum immunity against the virus gets developed only after the second dose is administered. Instead of Saturday, any weekdays like Monday or Tuesday should be reserved for second dose in order to improve second dose coverage,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).

According to the Co-WIN portal, Ghaziabad district till 8.30pm on Saturday administered 1,815,102 overall doses, which included 357,256 second doses (19.68%). On the other hand, UP administered overall 63,509,137 doses, including 10,094,961 (15.89%) second doses.