Many seniors’ shot at safety delayed

CHANDIGARH: A huge demand for the Covid-19 vaccine among the elderly priority group has forced many to be given appointment for March 28, which means they will have to wait almost a month.
On the second day of vaccination for this group, 1,119 seniors were immunised, while 563 had taken the shot on the first day. The increase was 50% from the first day and also compared with the healthcare workers. As the vaccination queue in the hospitals gets longer and longer, the seniors are getting more and more afraid of catching the infection, since the Covid-19 protocol can’t be followed in this rush. Ram Verma of Sector 42 said: “At my age, I can’t risk standing for longer in this crowd for registration. Most people in the queue don’t have a mask on.”
Portal issues have kept the UT health department from increasing the sites. Whenever the issue is resolved, new sites will be added to the portal list for this category. Director health services Dr Amandeep Kang said: “Many seniors have wished to be vaccinated. Backend problem have kept them waiting but we are also helpless. We are booked until the end of March due to the overwhelming response.”
The central statistics office of the programme implementation ministry has counted more than 2 lakh citizens aged above 60 years in the city, which is about 6% of its population. The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) will open yet another Covid-vaccination centre from Wednesday at the Nehru Hospital Extension. This is for those who take appointment through the CoWIN portal and app.
Walk-ins for sometime
For the initial few days, the PGI will allow walk-ins till the appointment button of the CoWIN portal becomes functional. The vaccination center works 10am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am to 1pm on working Saturdays. The other two vaccination centers of the PGI (APC and lecture theatre) serve healthcare workers.