NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: Both districts have inoculated nearly one lakh people in the third phase of the vaccination drive. While 53,316 people have got the jabs in Ghaziabad, against a target of 93,480 for March (57% coverage), in Noida, 48,175 people have been vaccinated.
On the Co-WIN portal, however, Ghaziabad’s coverage is 49.7% and details of 46,463 recipients are being shown.
On Sunday, the turnout was significantly low in both districts with 728 people being inoculated in Ghaziabad and 323 taking the jabs in Noida.
According to sources, it is unlikely that Ghaziabad will be able to achieve the target for this month with only 10 days remaining. The drive is carried out across all designated government and private centres only on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Currently, 45 government hospitals and 32 private hospitals in the district are inoculating people.
For the remaining days of the week, nine government hospitals and 32 private facilities are vaccinating people. At the current rate, about 20,000 more people are likely to get the vaccine by March.
Neighbouring Noida has a target of inoculating 65,048 people under the third phase this month and so far, the district has recorded a 74% coverage.
For the remaining 10 days of the month, the district needs to vaccinate 1,700-1,800 people daily to meet the target. Officials said although they are hopeful, a cause for concern could be the low weekend turnout and Holi, which is on March 29.
“Some people are scared, considering their age and other health conditions. We request everyone, who is eligible, to take the vaccine, not just for themselves but also for the safety of their families,” said Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.
Senior health officials in Ghaziabad said efforts are on to increase vaccination coverage in rural areas, which has so far been only 8%. The coverage in urban areas is about 46%. Health department has suggested the names of four more private hospitals to the government so that they can also take part in the vaccination drive