MUMBAI: A day after the state government said the next
Covid-19 vaccination session would begin after glitches in the
Co-WIN app were resolved by the Centre, public health minister
Rajesh Tope on Sunday announced that the second session would be conducted on Tuesday. He said it was likely that all four sessions allowed in a week would be wrapped up in four straight days.
Tope’s announcement was an indication that the problems experienced with the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) on Friday and Saturday were nearing resolution and were likely to be ironed out by Monday. The state had suspended the vaccination drive after facing the problems.
“On Saturday evening there was a video-conference with the Union health minister seeking feedback on the first day of vaccination,” Tope said. “All the states, including Maharashtra, raised the issue regarding the Co-WIN app. And it was decided that the second session will be held once the glitches are resolved.”
“We will re-start the vaccination drive from Tuesday and will try to carry out the drive for four days continuously,” said Tope.
The first vaccination round was held on Saturday, when the turnout of beneficiaries in the city was 48%, with the low figure blamed on Co-WIN glitches like the app not generating a list of beneficiaries or sending out messages to those who were to be vaccinated.
Healthcare workers who received the first shot of the vaccine on Saturday are being monitored for 48 hours, said officials. Each vaccination centre has set up a 24-hour helpline for beneficiaries to report any adverse symptoms.
As some who were listed as beneficiaries has also refused to take the vaccine on the first day, authorities decided to carry out a robust counselling programme in upcoming vaccination sessions.
“We are calling up people who have missed taking the vaccine, despite being listed as a beneficiary, and are dispelling their fears and anxiety regarding the safety of the vaccines,” Nikhil Saindane, Nashik district nodal officer for the vaccination programme, said.
Tope said problems with the Co-WIN app had slowed down the process on the first day in many centres. “The Centre has made it mandatory for the entire process to be carried out online and so the drive cannot start unless the app is rectified,” he said.
While BMC officials said that they had been informed that a drive would be held on Tuesday, they had also been told it could not be held without Co-WIN. “We have very clear instructions that the drive should not be held without the application. We will review things on Monday when we will have an update on the app’s functioning,” Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC executive health officer, said.
Dr Gomare said the turnout of 48% on the first day was not too bad. “Despite last-minute preparations and late intimations, nearly 2,000 people showed up,” she said.
Regarding those who missed their chance on Saturday, Dr Gomare said that they were likely to be rescheduled for vaccination later. “We will have more clarity on this once the application starts working,” she said.
TOI on Sunday reported the harrowing time BMC officials had gone through on Friday night, when beneficiaries did not receive messages and they had to make frantic calls to 4,000 of them in a span of three hours.
The launch of the mega drive on Saturday had hinged on 4,000 healthcare workers showing up at 10 centres, but none had been informed.
Tope said he had once again raised the issue of having the remaining Covid-19 vaccine doses sent to the state, which has only received about 9.6 lakh doses when its requirement is nearly 17 lakh.
“We have once again raised our demand for free doses for the second phase of frontline workers and even for people from below the poverty line,” the minister said.
The drive on Tuesday will start around 9am. “Hereon, it will be more like a routine immunisation programme since it will go on for several months, maybe lasting more than a year,” an immunisation officer said.