139 inmates of women’s shelter home given jabs
As many as 139 women were administered the Covid-19 vaccine at a special vaccination camp organised by the district administration’s social welfare department at a women’s shelter home, Nari Niketan, in Noida’s Sector 34 on Friday.
Shailendra Bahadur Singh, social welfare officer, said the women at the shelter did not have any ID proof or documents.
“A majority of the women here have been abandoned. They would have been left out from the vaccination. We vaccinated all residents there,” he said.
There are total 152 occupants at the shelter of whom 139 have been vaccinated. Twelve of the 13 women aged above 45 were vaccinated while 127 residents in the 18-45 group received the shot.
According to Deepika Patel, the shelter home’s superintendent, 12 occupants who could not get jabs included two pregnant women, two who recently recovered from Covid-19 and eight who were below 18 years.
“A majority of the occupants are psychologically disturbed. The staff at the shelter home counselled all the residents for two days to prepare them for the drive. Even then, only about 60 occupants understood but others were still resisting due to fear of needle or anxiety,” said Patel.
“In the second wave, 10 women from the shelter home got Covid-19. Another woman, who had been sent to the shelter home in February this year, passed away shortly after getting infected. She was in her 40s and had comorbid conditions as well. However, her death triggered the fear of the viral infection among the occupants of the shelter home,” she added.
Noida MLA Pankaj Singh, who inaugurated the camp, said, “Holding vaccination camps for such target groups will ensure no one is left out of the vaccination programme. We hope all the eligible beneficiaries of Gautam Budh Nagar are vaccinated with the first dose at least by July 30.”