Special vax camps for airport staff, govt employees in Ranchi

Ranchi: The Ranchi administration on Thursday set up a special camp to vaccinate over 800 staff at Birsa Munda International airport here, with over 100 beneficiaries taking the jab on the first day.
“Since we are at the frontline and handling incoming and outgoing passengers, we requested the state health department to help us get our employees vaccinated,” Vinod Sharma, the director of Ranchi Airport, told TOI.
Sharma said among the beneficiaries, most people are aged between 18-44 years. The vaccination drive for the beneficiaries of this age group began in Jharkhand from May 14.
Besides the Ranchi airport, special camps are currently running in state government secretariats in Nepal House and in Project Building, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha and the Jharkhand high court.
“These are temporary camps and will be closed once all the employees at the respective offices are vaccinated,” Ranchi civil surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar said on Thursday. He added that these camps have been set up at the instructions of the state health department.
The special camps come at a time when all the 596 session sites meant for vaccinating beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group across the state are witnessing long queues. On the other hand, the state government is mulling the closure of several session sites across the state owing to depleting stocks.
“In Ranchi, we do not have shortage of vaccines. None of our session sites have been shut. The beneficiaries who have registered and booked their slots are getting their jabs,” district immunisation officer SB Khalko said. Khalko, however, said that the special camps will not offer on the spot registrations for non-government employees and their family members.
However, senior officials said that there is an acute shortage of Covishield vaccines in the district. “The little we have is being used to provide second doses to those above 45 years,” an official said.