COVID-19: Several vaccination centres in Agra report shortage of jabs as UP registers its biggest spike

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Agra said the vaccination drive would resume on Monday as 15,000 doses are expected to arrive by Sunday.
Representational Image. (Photo | AP)
Representational Image. (Photo | AP)

AGRA: Shortage of COVID-19 vaccines at several vaccination centres in Agra district in Uttar Pradesh forced people to return home without a jab on Saturday.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Agra said the vaccination drive would resume on Monday as 15,000 doses are expected to arrive by Sunday.

There are about 199 health centres in Agra district where the vaccination drive is going on.

Dr Jitendra Lawania, the head of Community Health Centre (CHC) at Achhnera, said, "Due to unavailability of COVID-19 vaccines at the centre, the vaccination drive was affected. We are expecting to resume the drive by Monday."

The Medical Officer at Urban Primary Health Centre in Vijay Nagar Colony in Agra also said vaccines were unavailable at the centre.

A resident of Keetham village claimed that he went to the vaccination centre in Achhnera along with his 65-year-old father, but had to return home without the jab due to unavailability of vaccines.

The state on Saturday reported 120 deaths, its largest one-day toll from the pandemic pushing the fatality count to 9,703, while 27,357 fresh COVID-19 cases raised the infection tally to 8,21,054, according to an official statement.

Of the new fatalities linked to the virus, 36 were reported from state capital Lucknow, followed by 15 from Kanpur, eight from Varanasi, four each from Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar and Jaunpur among other districts.

Lucknow accounted for 5,913 of the fresh COVID-19 cases, Allahabad 1977, Kanpur 1826 and Varanasi 1,664, the UP government said in a statement issued here.

So far, 6,41,292 COVID-19 patients have recovered from the disease in the state, it said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 1,70,059 in Uttar Pradesh, the statement added.

In the past 24 hours, over 2.15 lakh samples have been tested for COVID-19 in UP, while so far more than 3.80 crore samples have been tested in the state,it said.

Meanwhile, chairing a review meeting virtually, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said every hospital should have an oxygen backup of 36 hours.

He said in order to improve medical oxygen supply in the state, 10 new oxygen plants will be established, and the DRDO is extending help in this regard.

"For the establishment of an oxygen plant, the plot of land should be identified today itself, and work should begin on war-footing," the chief minister said.

Uttar Pradesh Health minister and Medical Education minister have been asked to continuously monitor this, Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister said the HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) has proposed to set up a dedicated COVID hospital in Lucknow using its CSR fund.

He directed the health department to coordinate with the HAL.

Meanwhile, the popular Dwarkadhish Temple in Mathura has been closed to devotees for a week amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

An office-bearer of the temple said it will remain closed to people till April 25.

He, however, added that daily rituals will be carried out in the temple in the absence of devotees.

A procession slated for Sunday as part of the "Yamuna Chhath" celebrations has been cancelled, an official said.

The ancient Radha Damodar Temple in Vrindavan has also been closed for seven days till April 25.

The mahant of the temple said a decision on reopening the temple will be taken on April 24.

Several other temples in Mathura, including Bankey Bihari Temple and Madan Mohan Temple, will remain closed on Sunday in view of a curfew imposed by the Uttar Pradesh government to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Uttar Pradesh on Saturday reported 120 deaths, its largest one-day toll from the pandemic pushing the fatality count to 9,703, while 27,357 fresh COVID-19 cases raised the infection tally to 8,21,054, according to an official statement.

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