Ghaziabad allows walk-ins for second dose of Covid vaccine

With the increase in the supply of Covid-19 vaccine, officials have now facilitated walk-in registration for beneficiaries scheduled to take their second dose, cutting down on the need to go online and booking a slot to take the jab.

According to figures available on the Co-Win portal, Ghaziabad district administered total 23,49,380 doses till 8.30pm on Tuesday, which includes 5,53,037 second doses. Officials said the decision to facilitate walk-in registrations for beneficiaries scheduled to take their second dose was taken by district magistrate RK Singh, who issued a statement to this effect on Tuesday evening.

“Now, beneficiaries, who wish to take their second dose, can walk in to any Covid vaccination centre and take the jab. They can also come after booking online slots. The decision has been taken up to increase the second dose coverage as we have been allocated more Covid-19 vaccines,” said chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar.

Till August end, Ghaziabad received around 16,000 doses per day, which has now been scaled up to about 25,000 doses. “We are also trying to increase the allocation of vaccines we get from the state. This will help us vaccinate more beneficiaries. The walk-in facility is available for beneficiaries both in the 45+ age group and the 18-45 group,” said the CMO. In terms of overall vaccination coverage, Lucknow stands at the top with total 32,24,019 doses administered till Tuesday evening, followed by Ghaziabad.

Data from the Cowin portal shows that Ghaziabad district has been administering more than 100,000 doses in the last four weeks. The district administered 129,884 doses between August 14 to August 20; 136,050 from August 21 to August 27 and 135,660 from August 28 to September 3. More than 200,500 doses were administered from September 4 to September 10.

“We feel that it is vital to increase the second dose coverage so that people are better protected in case a third wave of Covid-19 breaks out. Walk-in will ease issues for beneficiaries as many a times, they cannot book online slots,” said Dr V B Jindal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).

Starting August 14, the UP government also declared Saturday as ‘second dose day’ and directed that it will be reserved only for beneficiaries, who wish to take their second dose.

According to official figures, the district has a target population of about 878,250 beneficiaries in the 45+ category, around 61.1% of whom have been inoculated with the first dose till august 31. Likewise, the targeted population in the 18-45 category is 188,027, 51.89% of whom have taken the first dose.