Vaccines’ paucity results in higher turnout at private centres in Gautam Budh Nagar

The scarcity of Covid-19 vaccines at government health care facilities in Gautam Budh Nagar has resulted in higher turnout at inoculation booths in private hospitals of the district

The scarcity of Covid-19 vaccines at government health care facilities in Gautam Budh Nagar has resulted in higher turnout at inoculation booths in private hospitals of the district. The private vaccination centres, which had less than 25% share in vaccination between July 29 and August 4, increased their share to nearly 54% between August 5 and August 12, according to the data of the district health department.

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Also, the number of government vaccination centres in GB Nagar has been reduced to 16, which was over 40 till August 4.

According to the data , a total of 121,032 people were vaccinated in the district between July 29 and August 4, of which 91,684 beneficiaries (75.75%) took their jabs at the government vaccination centres. But after that, the speed of vaccination at government centres slowed down, mainly due to acute crisis of vaccines in the state.

Of 77,213 jabs administered between August 5 and 12, only 35,229 (45.71%) were given in the government facilities while the rest (about 54%) at private centres, shows the data.

Attributing the lower turnout at government centres to the crisis of vaccines, GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said that with the present amount of supply, it will be impossible to run the vaccination drive at full swing. “This is a statewide crisis. At the same time, one shouldn’t forget that GB Nagar has been ranked first in vaccination drive by the state government as nearly 1.7 million people, out of estimated eligible population of about two million, have been vaccinated. We are committed to provide at least one dose of vaccine to the entire eligible population of GB Nagar by the end of November this year,” he said.

Echoing similar views, Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer, said that the district health department is left with around 10,000 doses of vaccines. “With this stock, we can run the drive for two more days, and that too not full-fledged. However, we’ve sent our requisition for vaccines to the state government and hope to get adequate supply very soon,” he said.

When asked about the rising number of vaccinations in the private facilities, Tyagi said that it is obvious in the present scenario. “People have suffered a lot during the two waves of Covid-19. And, when there is a possibility of the third wave, they will not wait for free vaccines for a long time. To me, choosing some other options for vaccination is not a bad phenomenon. We can increase the vaccination figures only after getting the ample stock of vaccines,” he said.

Private hospitals said that the turnout at private facilities has increased as people now don’t want to wait for getting vaccinated.

“Witnessing the loss of lives during the pandemic, even the people from lower income groups have realised that it is better to be safe than sorry. They are not ready to risk their lives for ₹700-800. Not only that, the facilities and the logistics available at the private centres are better than the government centres,” said Ajit Kumar, director (public relations) of Sharda hospital.

It may be noted that during the single-day mega vaccination drive on August 3, there were 200 government vaccination centres in the district. On August 4, it came down to 42 and after that it has been reduced to only 16. Since August 7, the shots are being given at these centres to only those who booked their slots online.