Vaccine registration for 18+ from today but vaccinations slow down to a trickle

GURUGRAM: Registrations for Covid-19 vaccination of those aged between 18 and 44 years will start from Wednesday on the government’s Co-WIN platform. The health department is still waiting for the new guidelines to conduct session sites in the upcoming phase, which is to officially begin from Saturday.
According to sources, walk-ins will not be allowed. Only people who are registered on the portal will be able to get vaccinated. “We received 7,000 Covishield vaccine doses on Tuesday. We aren’t holding a large number of session sites since supply of the vaccine is slow as the government is changing certain norms. We will organise training sessions for our staff on Wednesday regarding the changes on the Co-WIN portal,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram.

The state government has placed orders for 40 lakh doses of Covishield with Serum Institute of India and 26 lakh doses of Covaxin with Bharat Biotech. “People who are in the 45-plus age group will be allowed to walk in at session sites. Frontline workers and healthcare workers can also walk in. Recipients eligible for second doses can also get vaccinated without prior appointments,” said Dr Yadav.
Private hospitals have been asked to submit details on their vaccine stock on Friday. Several residents said they haven’t been able to get appointments for vaccine shots. Most private hospitals are not setting up any session sites, while vaccination drives in residential societies and corporate workplaces have also been temporarily halted due to slow vaccine supply. Only 1,199 people in the 45-plus age group got vaccinated in Gurugram on Tuesday. Of the eight session sites set up on the day, four were in government facilities and the rest in private hospitals. Overall, 4.3 lakh people in the city are eligible for getting the jabs in this category, of whom 3.8 lakh have been vaccinated till now.
“I have already received the first dose of Covishield, but my second dose is due. I have been contacting several hospitals, but none of them is administering the vaccine. I tried registering on the Aarogya Setu app but am not getting any vaccination appointments. Most private hospitals say they do not have vaccines and to check after May 1,” said DLF resident Harinder Bansi, a former IRS chief commissioner.
Sanjay Jain, who lives in South City-1, said, “We are presently in a surge and people should get vaccination faster. There is no other option left. Slowing down the vaccination process is not a solution.”
Several hospital administrations said that they were facing issues with vaccine supply and were thus unable to carry out full sessions. “The pace of vaccination has slowed down due to problems in supply. Vaccination drives in residential societies and corporates have been temporarily put on halt. We are hopeful that we will soon overcome glitches with help of district administration and have our community vaccinated. The government is doing its best to deal with this pandemic on all fronts,” said Dr Anjali Kaul, medical superintendent, Artemis Hospital.