NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The final dry run before vaccinations begin later this week threw up areas of concern for administrators that they will have to work hard to solve over the next few days. The problems that cropped were both technical and infrastructural. While in GB Nagar, poor mobile network coverage in some rural areas led to the CoWIN app not functioning properly, in Ghaziabad, there were technical issues with the app itself. Besides, in both districts, the dry run saw many recipients either turn up late or not at all.
In GB Nagar, staffers at the community health centre (CHC) in Bhangel couldn’t operate the CoWIN app due to confusion regarding the network, following which district magistrate Suhas LY directed the chief medical officer (CMO) to address the niggling issues before immunisation day, which is slated for Saturday. In Ghaziabad, however, the app didn’t function at all.
“A low cellphone bandwidth problem was confused by a junior staff at Bhangel CHC for network issues while operating the CoWIN app. This was clarified by the health department team present during the dry run on Monday,” said a source from the GB Nagar health department. Also, while the number of healthcare workers per session site was limited to 15, some centres such as Bisrakh primary health centre (PHC) and CHC, Yatharth hospital and Sharda hospital reported low attendance for the first 45 minutes of the two-hour drive that began at 10am.
The DM said that the staff’s phone had a bandwidth problem. “There is no problem with the app. I have directed the CMO to provide necessary upgrades in the system on the actual day of the vaccination,” said Suhas, who visited the Bhangel CHC to oversee the preparations.
GB Nagar CMO Deepak Ohri said that if a similar situation arises on the day of the vaccination, hard copies of verification will be done, which will be uploaded on Co-WIN app later. In Ghaziabad, the app did not open at several places till afternoon, causing a massive delay in starting the dry run. Sources said a similar situation was reported across the state. A senior health official said that due to the non-functional Co-WIN app, the timing of vaccination was moved to 4pm.
Also, not a single health worker turned up at two vaccination sites at MMG District Hospital till 1pm. The staff members at District Women Hospital were unsure whether they were supposed to call beneficiaries or turn up on their own. Only four of the 15 beneficiaries came till 12.45pm. SMSes regarding the selection of beneficiary and the time and place where they were supposed to reach were not received by most health workers in Ghaziabad, which further complicated the situation. Sources said all details related to vaccination were available on the app, but when it could not be opened, the staff could not even call and inform those who were supposed to arrive.