People in the 18-44 age group from the Delhi-NCR region are traveling as far as Agra in Uttar Pradesh to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Moolchand Medcity, Agra, started vaccinating people in the 18-44 age group four days ago. Of the 450 people inoculated so far, 40 percent of the beneficiaries came from places like Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Meerut, Etawah, and Mathura.
The shortest distance between Agra and Delhi is 224 kilometers. Meerut is 232 km away from Agra.
“After a ferocious second wave of COVID-19, people have realized the importance of getting vaccinated. They are even traveling 250 kilometers to get the jabs,” Vibhu Talwar, medical director, Moolchand Medcity, Agra told PTI.
“People have been coming from Mainpuri, Aligarh, Etawah, Mathura, Delhi, Meerut, Gurgaon, Noida, among other places, to get vaccinated. It is a good sign that people are traveling 250 kilometers to get inoculated against COVID-19… that they are taking it seriously,” he said Talwar said around 40 to 50 percent of those who have been vaccinated at the hospital so far are from outside Agra.
Preeti Dungriyal, 35, and her husband traveled from Noida to Agra on Monday to get their second dose of Covaxin.
“We took our first dose of Covaxin on May 8 and were trying to book a slot for the second dose for the last three-four days, but did not find success,” she said.
“Later, we found that slots were available in Agra, so we drove there. It was pretty convenient… What is more important is that we could get the jab in time,” Dungriyal said.
Pulkit Gupta, 32, from Rajouri Garden in west Delhi also traveled to Agra along with his wife to get the second dose of the vaccine.
”We could not get the second dose in Delhi as the slots got filled up fast. So, I started searching for available slots in nearby cities. Agra is just a few hours away… I felt that it was important to get fully vaccinated,” he said while returning to Delhi.
Another man from Delhi in the 18 plus category rode a bike to Agra to get himself vaccinated.
“There is a scarcity of vaccines, especially for the 18-44 age group, in Delhi. I consider myself lucky to get my second dose at the Agra hospital. I believe Rs 1,800 and above charged by private hospitals is nothing as compared to a person’s life,” he said.
In Delhi, AAP leader Atishi had said on Monday that the youth of the city was now traveling 100 km to get vaccinated due to the non-availability of Covishield and Covaxin in the national capital for the 18-44 age group.
”It is becoming a serious issue as a lot of people in the 18-44 group are nearing their date for the second dose. We have also come across reports about people traveling 100-200 km to Meerut, Bulandshahr to get their shots because there are no vaccines in Delhi,” she said.
She said the city got 40,000 more doses of Covaxin for the 18 plus category on Sunday and these will be used to administer the second dose only.
The Centre has said it will provide a fresh supply of vaccines for this age group on June 10.
