It was chaos everywhere at the Jimmy George indoor stadium as large crowds jostled each other for the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
The crowd control measures put in place by Health authorities came undone when the public violated time-slot management yet again and threw caution to the wind amid the worsening pandemic situation.
By the time the police intervened, a serpentine queue had formed outside the centre. It did not take long for the situation to get out of hand with several senior citizens complaining of unease and four of them requiring immediate hospitalisation after collapsing while waiting in the queue.
Searing heat
The searing heat and the absence of potable water on the premises only made matters worse.
Despite the repeated calls made by the district administration to stick to time slots issued while booking for vaccination sessions on the Co-WIN portal, a large number of people turned up at the centre as early as 7 a.m. Making matters worse, the Health authorities had opened up 2,000 slots in place of the 600 slots that were available during the last few days.
Besides, not many paid heed to the district administration’s move to confine inoculation at the Jimmy George indoor stadium to those requiring the booster (second dose) alone.
While volunteers initially distributed tokens among even those who had come much ahead of their time slot, officials soon sensed danger as the crowd began to mount in quick time. While the situation appeared to go haywire, a large police posse rushed to the scene, albeit only by 11 a.m.
Kowdiar native Janardhana Pillai, who along with this wife, came 10 minutes ahead of the 11 a.m.-12 p.m. slot that he had opted for, was left with little option but to return home on seeing the long queue that had built up around the stadium. “Situations as this are bound to spread the disease like wildfire. The government must ensure priority for aged people and those requiring the second dose of the vaccine while accepting bookings,” he said.
The blame-game went on with the police accusing the District Health authorities of failing to anticipate the uncontrollable situation and seeking police assistance well in advance.
A senior Health official, however, claimed helplessness with the people showing utter disregard towards attempts to streamline the public.