From 79k high on Tuesday, Gzb’s vax count drops to 3k

Ghaziabad: A day after administering more than 79,000 vaccine shots and surpassing its target, the district on Wednesday, managed to inoculate only a little over 3,000 people across 16 centres. Of the 16 booths, six were government facilities.
On Tuesday, 185 centres across the district had inoculated 79,093 people and the target achievement was recorded at 130%. Of the 185 centres, 174 were government facilities. On Wednesday, 3,187 people were vaccinated.
Nodal officer, vaccination, Dr GP Mathuria, said the routine immunisation drive for pregnant women and children is carried out on Wednesdays and Saturdays. “Most centres were engaged in that programme.” He added that all Covid vaccine doses that were received from the government on Tuesday had been consumed and Wednesday’s drive was conducted with the leftover stock. For Thursday, the district has got 30,000 doses.
On Wednesday, several people turned up at vaccination centres hoping that walk-ins would be allowed. But most were turned away.
“The government should vaccinate people on a daily basis. What is the point of calling thousands of people on one day and then not conducting the drive for the next three days? Most people have to make a lot of arrangements before taking the jabs. But then they are turned away and asked to come another day, which is very inconvenient,” said Pradeep Chaudhary, a resident of Raj Nagar Extension.
According to health officials, about 23 lakh people have to be vaccinated in the district, and so far, more than 15.5 lakh people have already got the jabs.
Officials said if they continue to get an adequate number of vaccines regularly, they might be able to administer the first dose to all residents by the end of next month. On Tuesday, Ghaziabad not only topped the state list in terms of vaccination numbers, but also the country-wide list.