48.9% frontline workers get Covid vaccine shots in UP
Round 7: Lowest turnout of beneficiaries in Lko (24.44%) and highest in Mainpuri (80.66%)
LUCKNOW: The seventh round of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign went off smoothly at 1,537 vaccination centres in UP on Thursday with 1,01,454 frontline workers (48.9%) out of the targeted 2,07,382 getting the jabs till 5pm, according to official data.
A mop-up round for health workers, who missed the vaccination, will be organised on February 15, said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary, health and family welfare.
The health department organised 1,721 vaccination sessions in all 75 districts of the state. Shots of Covishield and Covaxin were given to frontline workers, said a health department officer.
Five districts reported the highest turnout of beneficiaries – Mainpuri (80.66%), Auraiya (75.84%), Balrampur (73.84%), Siddharth Nagar (73.47%) and Barabanki (72.95%) whereas five districts that saw the lowest turnout included Lucknow (20.93% till 5 pm and 24.44% till last reports came in), Prayagraj (25.64%), Ballia (26.76%), Muzaffaranagar (29.15%) and Ghaziabad (31.19%).
Only 2,990 (24.44%) of the 12,234 listed frontline workers turned up to take the jabs in Lucknow. This was the lowest turnout in all the rounds conducted so far, but officials said the next one would see a rise.
Apart from various other reasons that the beneficiaries gave, technical glitch was also a key reason for the poor turnout.
“At some places, incorrect cell phone number was fed, which resulted in beneficiaries not getting the SMS informing them about their vaccination. “
“We are working on it and the vaccination percentage will go up on Friday,” said Dr MK Singh, in-charge of vaccination in Lucknow. No adverse reaction or wastage of vaccine vial was reported, he added.