BENGALURU: The chaos at
Covid-19 vaccination centres is impacting younger professionals accompanying senior citizens who are keen on getting the anti-viral shot. With beneficiaries being made to wait for hours together — many are even asked to return the next day — schedules of youngsters escorting seniors are being disrupted.
They say applying for leave or waiting in hospitals endlessly is not easy, especially since they are working from home and meetings cannot be missed.
“I took my 86-year-old grandmother and grandfather to the hospital at around 10.45am on Friday but I was told to go back home since the session for the day was full and they could not accommodate anyone else,” said Priyanka V, a software employee and resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar. “I took leave to ensure my grandparents get the vaccine, but it has been such a waste. This is unacceptable,” she added Priyanka had pre-booked slots on Thursday night and the Co-Win portal had accepted it and scheduled the vaccination for March 5. But when she reached the hospital, she was told to take her grandparents back.
Pratheek Shetty, 37, faced a similar predicament at a private hospital in Bommanahalli. He had applied for leave to take his 72-year-old father to get the shot and he waited for nearly three hours on Thursday only to be told that the session had ended.
“I work in a delivery agency and they had given me half-day leave because we were short on staff. I had already booked dad’s inoculation, but things got worse for me after reaching the hospital,” Shetty told TOI.
Shetty and his father reached the hospital at 11.20am and the two left at 3.30pm without taking the dose. “I waited for over two hours with a token only to be sent back. This is a big nuisance. My half-day leave was also wasted,” Shetty fumed.
At Sir CV Raman General Hospital, Kavitha and her husband Krishnaswamy were sent back saying the list of recipients was already full. The couple sought to get vaccinated through the walk-in system since registering in advance is not required at the facility.
“Why can’t the health department fix a share for walkins and registered vaccine seekers? This will make things easy for those who cannot access the portal,” said Kavitha.
P Rajendra Cholan, special commissioner (health), BBMP, said he has written to the department of health requesting it to increase session sites in hospitals. “We believe that increasing session sites will reduce the chaos and bring in a disciplined system of inoculation,” Cholan told TOI.