The COVID-19 inoculation drive in the district appeared to have returned to normalcy on Friday, thanks to the arrival of an additional vaccine batch and reforms to streamline the public following days of commotion and chaos at the vaccination centres.
A day after the district received 65,000 of vaccine doses, over a hundred healthcare institutions received vaccine-seekers after a hiatus of few days.
The government’s decision to abandon spot registrations paid off as hospitals witnessed an orderly flow of those who registered online for the jabs.
While several people who had been given tokens at the Jimmy George indoor stadium a few days ago returned with the hope of getting registered on the spot, they were turned back and advised to register on the Co-WIN portal.
Despite the many merits, the arrangement was not without teething troubles on the first day.
People who had received specific time slots while booking online were made to collect tokens that effectively rendered the time allotted to them on Co-WIN useless. Priority was decided on the basis of the tokens that were issued at the vaccination centres.
P.B. Thomas, a retired bank manager, was one among several people who had to wait until 1 p.m. for their injections at the General Hospital, despite having booked in the 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot. While lauding the officials in doing away with spot registrations, the 71-year old Kaithamukku resident urged health authorities to avoid a parallel booking system that would create confusion and defeat the goal of minimising crowding.
Senior citizens’ misery
Besides, while a separate facility was reserved at Jimmy George indoor stadium for fast-tracking the vaccination procedure for those requiring palliative care, the same was not seen elsewhere.
This left several senior citizens with no option but to wait for long hours outdoor in the searing heat for their turn, thereby exposing themselves to the threat of contracting the infection.
‘Adhere to time slots’
District Medical Officer K.S. Shinu said the system of multiple tokens will be eased out within a few days.
However, such a move would hinge on the public adhering to the time slots allotted to them.
The daily vaccine coverage rose to 14,432 from 2,931 a day ago.
As many as 13,905 people received Covishield, while the others were administered Covaxin. Vaccination will be undertaken in 74 centres including 50 public health institutions on Saturday.