Nagpur: At first sight the decked up entrance of the pandal resembled a budget wedding venue with floral and rangoli decorations around it. But a look at the display board above the pandal, and the design of rangoli makes it clear that this is a centre for Covid-19 vaccine.
Daga Memorial Hospital (DMH) is a state run hospital which caters specifically to women and children, and is one of the designated vaccination centres in Nagpur city.
Dr Madhuri Thorat, medical superintendent of DMH, says decorations at the centre were done to have a ‘feel good’ factor. “Those who come for vaccination must not feel that it’s a routine medical exercise. It’s a very special day for India and we at DMH are fortunate to be part of this special occasion,” said Dr Thorat.
Dr Sanjeev Dhawad, administrative officer at DMH, spearheaded the decoration plan. “We all thought it would be better to deck up the place on day one,” said Dr Dhawad.
Vaccine recipients were welcomed with roses to add to the ‘festive’ mood around. At least for day one, there were no strangers at the centre because all vaccine recipients were healthcare workers from DMH. Dr Sanjay Karpate, DMH vaccination centre in-charge, said, “They are all our staff, right from doctors to nurses. All frontline workers are proud to taking part in a historic vaccination campaign. Entire 2020 has gone in fighting off the virus and this vaccine is now our biggest ally in 2021 and beyond.”
Multiple training sessions and dry runs of the vaccination process seem to have worked as roll out happened like clockwork. At 11.20am, the first vaccine shot was given to Dr Sandhya Dange, additional civil surgeon at DMH. “I wish to tell everyone that they must not be afraid. All concerns over the vaccine have been answered by medical professionals and I hope that with us (healthcare workers) taking the first shot, common folks will gain confidence,” said Dr Dange.
Nita Murarkar, staff nurse at DMH, gave that first jab. “For the last 15 years I have been doing this, so the vaccination process itself is not new nor challenging. But still we have undergone a lot of training as even I can’t remember seeing such a massive scale immunization process ever,” said Murarkar.
Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, whose turn to take the shot came around noon, said he felt like being part of a greater cause. “This is surreal. It’s not just any vaccine shot we are taking, rather it’s a message being given to the entire country. We have come a long way since last year when this virus appeared and today marks the beginning of our aggressive response to that,”said Dr Deshmukh.
Immediately after the vaccination shot, he goes across the hall to the observation room. Here cardiologist Dr Avinash Arke is ready with his team and the entire set up to handle any emergency. “Reactions, if at all, can happen within the first 30 minutes. We have a well-established standard operating procedure to deal with any incident,” said Dr Arke.
DMH has converted a paediatric OPD unit into a vaccination centre. Dr Vineeta Jain, senior paediatrician at DMH, said, “We have shifted the operations to another part of the hospital. It’s all operating smoothly as everything had been pre-planned.”
FIRST DAY, FIRST SHOW
* Centre name: Daga Memorial Hospital
* First vaccine: Given at 11:20am
* First beneficiary: Dr Sandhya Dange, additional civil surgeon
* First nurse to give vaccine: Nita Murarkar, staff nurse
* Vaccinations on day 1: 53/100