Ghaziabad: Several private hospitals that have been designated as Covid-19 vaccination centres (CVCs) in Ghaziabad have put up notices saying they have run out of vaccine stocks, forcing beneficiaries to return without getting the jab, even as the administration denied any scarcity. “We had only a few doses of the vaccine available on Monday and we administered them. We don’t have any vaccine stock available with us. The beneficiaries have to return, and we have also put up a notice informing people. We have already made payments for fresh vaccine stock,” said Dr Shakeel Ahmad, administrative officer from LYF Hospital in Indirapuram.

District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said there was no shortage vaccine and pointed out “management issues” at the private CVCs. “We have no shortage of vaccine. There are some managerial issues with private CVCs which have led to this situation. We will hold meetings with them and resolve the issues. It was directed that preference will be given at private CVCs to pre-registered beneficiaries. But private CVCs also allowed walk-ins,” the district magistrate said. “We have made payments, but health department officials say it will take another two or three days to send the stock. Low stocks have been affecting the vaccination drive since Monday, so we have now put up a notice,” said Poonam Singh from administration department of Chandra Laxmi Hospital in Vaishali.

Anamika Sharma, officer from the administration and HR department of Amicare Hospital in Indirapuram, said, “There is short supply, and we get limited stock. We administer shots whenever we get vaccine stock. We are not able to buy doses everyday due to availability issues. On Thursday, we had stock to administer doses to only 70-80 beneficiaries. So, other beneficiaries had to return. This is why we put up a notice.”Officials on Thursday said the health department had a stock of 12,290 doses of Covishield and 5,100 doses of Covaxin, and added that more will be procured from the store in Meerut.

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