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To augment inoculation drive, UP asks centre for more vaccines
Lucknow: To give a boost to the Covid vaccination drive, the Uttar Pradesh government has requested the central government to supply extra doses
Lucknow: To give a boost to the Covid vaccination drive, the Uttar Pradesh government has requested the central government to supply extra doses.
Additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said here on Thursday that the state had stock of 9.8 lakh doses. Each day, on an average about three lakh doses were being given to the beneficiaries and the state had adequate dose for three days. The state government had launched a focused vaccination drive after surge in Covid cases. The central government was likely to supply the Covid vaccine on Friday and Saturday, he said.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the state health and family welfare department to increase the vaccination cover by inoculating 5 lakh beneficiaries daily. Uttar Pradesh tops the country in Covid vaccination, surpassing Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, giving 5,01,599 Covid shots on April 5.
The vaccination drive had been expedited in the urban and rural areas, Prasad said.
When asked about the shortage of the vaccine in Varanasi, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, NOIDA and other districts, Prasad said adequate supply of the vaccine had been made to the districts. Rather than shortage, it was the question of management at vaccination centers. Some centres in various districts witnessed large rush of the beneficiaries since April 1 when the third phase vaccination for people above 45 years was launched, leading to shortage of the vaccine.
The health department had set the target of 100 vaccinations in each session. Along with registration, the people had walk-in facility at all the vaccination centres. The cold chains had been directed to ensure regular supply to ensure that maximum number of the beneficiaries got vaccinated, he said.
On Monday, 5 lakh beneficiaries got the shot , 4 lakh were inoculated on Tuesday, 2.50 lakh on Wednesday and 3 lakh would be given the shot on Thursday, he said.
The state health and family welfare department had decided to organize special vaccination programme for the employees working in government and private offices from Friday. The employees above 45 years would be inoculated. In the first phase, the offices having 100 or more employees had been selected. The government employees would get the shot at government hospitals whereas the employees working in private offices would be inoculated at private hospitals, he said.
