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Vaccination drive: 5,633 inoculated at 3 mega centres in Lucknow
LUCKNOW The state capital’s biggest Covid-19 vaccination drive got underway on Tuesday at three mega camps at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium and the iconic Chhota Imambada
LUCKNOW The state capital’s biggest Covid-19 vaccination drive got underway on Tuesday at three mega camps at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium and the iconic Chhota Imambada. This was part of the UP government’s aggressive vaccination campaign that aims to administer around one crore doses in June.
Though Covid protocols and social distancing were ignored in the earlier part of the day as large crowds converged at vaccination centres, health department officials said the drive was successful as they managed to inoculate 5,633 people at the three centres.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited the KD Singh ‘Babu’ stadium to inspect the vaccination drive.
“The Covid-19 vaccination drive went off smoothly. Against the target to administer around 10,500 doses in a day, we inoculated around 5,633 people at the three mega centres. This was in addition to the 76 regular Covid vaccination centres across the city, which administered over 19,000 doses in a day,” said Dr MK Singh, additional chief medical officer\district immunisation officer (DIO).
The Ekana cricket stadium, Chhota Imambada and KD Singh ‘Babu’ stadium were transformed into mega vaccination centres. Despite time slots being allocated, people began pouring in since morning, which made the situation chaotic at the centres, said beneficiaries.
“We were given a time slot of 11am. Hence we reached the vaccination centre at 10:30am. But we were surprised to see a huge crowd there and Covid protocols not being followed. The situation was rather scary for us as I also suffered minor injury while entering the main gate,” said Radhika, a college-goer, who reached Ekana stadium to take the jab.
Sarita Gautam, a college student who went to Ekana stadium to take the jab, said crowd management there was zero and social distancing went for a toss. “However, the management people said the crowd is huge as it is the first day of vaccination. I hope things improve in days to come or these centres would act as super-spreaders,” she said.
She said people with other time slots too thronged the centre and made things worse.
The situation was similar at the Chhota Imambada and the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium, which were crowded during the initial hours.
However, the things improved as the day progressed. Though the official time for the vaccination was between 10am and 4pm, people were inoculated till 6pm to clear the rush.
At the Ekana stadium, 2,085 beneficiaries were vaccinated in 18 plus age group and 507 in the 45 plus group. The KD Singh ‘Babu’ stadium witnessed inoculation of 939 people in the 18 plus age group and 548 in the 45 plus category. As many as 46 people took the jabs at parents’ special booths here, said officials.
The Chhota Imambada centre saw vaccination of 956 people in the 18 plus category and 485 in the 45 plus age group while 47 beneficiaries took the jabs at parents’ special booth here, they said.
Ekana stadium the biggest centre
Of the three mega centres, Ekana stadium was the biggest with around 20 inoculation booths. Of these, 10 were allocated to administer doses to people in 18 to 45 years age group while the remaining 10 booths catered to 45 plus citizens. A team of eight doctors and over 50 vaccinators and data operators, ensured smooth functioning of the centre.
The Chhota Imambada and KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium centres had eight booths each, of which four were for people between 18 and 44 years of age and the remaining four for 45-plus people.
250 staffers ensured smooth functioning
A team of 250 officials, including doctors, paramedical staff and health workers, was deployed to ensure smooth vaccination at the three mega centres. Three doctors took care of the entire vaccination event.
Besides, there were four doctors each at the three mega vaccination centres while over 70 vaccinators, 40 data entry operators and administrative officers ensured smooth functioning at the centres.
Parent special booths a hit
Special booths to vaccinate parents of children up to 12 years old on priority came in for praise. People said it’s tough for people having kids to spend hours in the queues. “I am thankful to the administration for giving a thought to the problem. The move will not only minimise the problem, but also motivate parents to get themselves vaccinated,” said Narendra Gupta, a banker who reached KD Singh ‘Babu’ stadium to get himself vaccinated.
