Noida waits for govt’s nod to start jab drive
NOIDA: While a number of people registered themselves at the cowin.gov.in portal and the Aarogya Setu app for the third phase of the vaccination, no time slots or vaccination centre were allotted. The nationwide vaccination drive which was supposed to start from May 1 for those above 18 years of age did not take place in Noida.
Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, said the health department is waiting for state government’s nod to start vaccinations. “We are getting doses. Once we get the order, the vaccination exercise will start,” he said.
Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer and in-charge of Covid vaccination , said people are advised to get themselves registered. “There will not be any on-the-spot registration,” he said.
A search on the app shows after registration, details of nearest vaccination centres is displayed. Amit Gupta, a resident of Sector 77, said he registered at the COWIN portal but no time slot was given. “I got a message I have been registered but I do not know when and where vaccination will take place,” he said.
On Saturday, 2,681 persons, including health care workers, frontline workers and people above 45 years of age, were given jabs.
In Gzb, vaccination at only one private hospital
Meanwhile in Ghaziabad, vaccination for the over-18 years of age was available only at a private hospital in Vaishali.
Ghaziabad district immunisation officer, Dr Vishram Singh said, “No vaccinations were done for the age group of 18-44 years in government hospitals in Ghaziabad on Saturday.”
Max Hospital in Vaishali was the only one that showed available slots. However, by April 28 evening, slots showed booked till May 30. “From 4pm on April 28 till 2pm on May 1, none of the hospitals in Ghaziabad showed any available slots. When I checked again at 5pm, I saw slots at Max Hospital but were all booked through May 30, except for May 12,” she said.
However, as soon as she clicked on the May 12 slot to book it, it became unavailable.
“All the 90 slots showed booked when I clicked on it. Beyond May 30, vaccination shots at the same hospital showed NA. Some dates in the month like May 2, 9 and 13 also showed NA,” she said.