Gujarat: People due for COVID-19 vaccine second dose barred from entering gardens, buses in Surat

The civic body in Gujarats Surat city has barred people who have not taken the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine from entering public spaces such as gardens, zoos and boarding city buses, an official said on Saturday.At least 6.68 lakh people in the city have not taken the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine shots despite crossing their due date, Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said.

The civic body in Gujarat's Surat city has barred people who have not taken the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine from entering public spaces such as gardens, zoos and boarding city buses, an official said on Saturday.

At least 6.68 lakh people in the city have not taken the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine shots despite crossing their due date, Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said. Such people will be barred from entering public gardens, parks, zoos, aquariums, science centres, etc., and using city BRTS buses, the official said, adding that the new rule will come into force on November 15 (Monday).

''We still have around 6.68 lakh such people (who are due for second dose of vaccine), and the gap is increasing. Some people who were eligible to get the second dose are skipping inoculation. We have people who have not taken their second dose even 200-250 days after their due date despite repeated calls, messages and door-to-door campaigns,'' Pani told PTI.

According to the civic body, Surat has vaccinated 106 per cent of the target population of 34.32 lakh with the first dose, while 21.20 lakh people out of 27.88 lakh have received the second jab, with the percentage of achievement standing at 76.03 per cent.

A total of 61.8 per cent of eligible beneficiaries have taken both doses and are fully vaccinated against the deadly disease, it was stated.

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