10k jabs per hour: Co-WIN portal crashes, chaos at many vax sites

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: At the mega vaccination drive held across UP on Tuesday, Ghaziabad administered 79,000 doses — achieving over 130% of its target. The district not only topped the state but also the country.
While Ghaziabad had set a target of 60,000 doses during Tuesday’s special drive, Noida had planned to give 42,000 jabs to recipients. Till 8 pm, Ghaziabad had given 78,699 doses and Noida vaccinated a total of 41,737 people, which is 99.4% of its target.
Noida’s vaccination drive had 37,944 people getting their first dose and 3,793 recipients of the second dose. The district was among the top ten in the state in terms of target achieved. In absolute numbers, Ghaziabad was followed by Lucknow (73,192), Prayagraj (69,454), Agra (60,479) and Gorakhpur (59,089).
In Ghaziabad, the vaccination drive was carried out at 185 centres, out of which 174 were government facilities and 11 private hospitals. Besides the usual government centres in Noida, 158 special sites were also set up on the day and each of them administered 200-250 doses. There were a total of 204 government CVCs.
In Tuesday’s vaccination drive, UP topped in the country with over 26 lakh inoculations. West Bengal was in second place with over 4 lakh vaccinations — a sixfold difference.
Ghaziabad CMO Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar said, “It was a collective effort taken by the health staff and the senior administration officials. We meticulously planned the drive targeting every section of society. Before the drive, health officials had held meetings with public representatives too.”
As per the Co-WIN portal, about 9,000-10,000 people were vaccinated per hour on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the portal crashed several times during the day due to the heavy rush at most vaccination centres. It slowed down the registration process. Many people who came to get the shot had to face issues. The staffers at several centres said that it took over 10 minutes to register details of recipients. Due to the high turnout, crowds started creating ruckus at several centres.
Many vaccination centres in Ghaziabad were being operated from a single room. At some places, social organisations had to deploy their volunteers as verifiers due to a shortage of medical staff.
Due to the huge crowds, Covid protocols were not followed at most of the centres. Minister of State for Health Atul Garg inspected the vaccination centre at Ramleela Maidan in Ghantaghar. Before the inspection, there was a huge, uncontrollable crowd at the site with just four vaccinators.
In Noida, District Hospital, GIMS and Child PGI also saw large crowds, which could be managed with the help of security staff. Residents had to return from smaller centres such as Bahlolpur, Atta in Sector 27 and Garhi Chaukhandi. “Over 3 lakh people live in Bahlolpur and there was just one session site with 250 doses available. The nearest regular government centre is around 7km away. Many people had to return without getting the shot,” said Sonu Yadav, a resident.
District immunisation officer Dr Neeraj Tyagi said, “Since it was a pilot drive, there were minor teething issues at some centres. However, it was a smooth drive and we achieved our target.”