Bengaluru: Tech savvy in 18-44 years group grabbing vaccine slots in a jiffy

BENGALURU: Vaccines being cornered by those with access to smartphones is passe. One needs to be tech savvy and have a high-speed internet connection to book a slot in the 18-44 age category.
With walk-ins disallowed, appointments through the CoWIN portal are the only way people in this group can get the jab. The window to book an appointment opens at odd hours — either early in the morning or late in the evening. However, social media groups keep track and immediately put out an alert when bookings open.
Startups such as Arzoo, a B2B platform, also track vaccine slots on their website. Currently, only Apollo Hospitals and Manipal Hospitals provide the immunity shot for this age group.
“The alerts on social media also provide information on pincodes of the centres for quick access.
Yet, I have not been able to book a slot so far,” said a 24-year-old man from Bengaluru, who is keen on the jab.
He said two of his colleagues have had better luck.
“At Apollo Hospitals, Jayanagar, all slots are booked within seconds. It only means youngsters keenly follow these alerts. Even our own staffers are unable to secure slots for family members,” said Dr Yateesh Govindaiah, unit head, Apollo Hospitals, Jayanagar. He said appointments are the best way to avoid crowding and the situation would ease when more hospitals roll out vaccines.
The slots issue was recently discussed at a webinar held by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences where the head of community medicine at a government medical college commented: “It’s only tech savvy IT engineers who seem to be getting appointments. At this rate, all others would be left out.”
One doctor of a medical college said they even asked youngsters who had obtained slots, how they did it. “He was able to book a slot within four seconds. In this case, technology is causing a huge divide between haves and have-nots,” the doctor said.
Sources said beneficiaries in the category are largely young couples, siblings, friends and colleagues. “We have seen people with addresses in Mysuru and Tumakuru booking slots in Bengaluru,” they said.
With the demand for the second dose from the elderly increasing, private hospitals have reduced the number of slots for the 18-44 category. At Apollo Hospitals, in the first week of May, 200 slots were opened but this reduced to 100 a day as the hospital began getting more walk-ins from the 45 years and above category.