Vax camp for auto, van drivers held in Ooty

Udhagamandalam: A vaccination camp for auto rickshaw and van drivers in the 18–44 age group was inaugurated by forest minister K Ramachandran in Ooty on Monday.
In the walk-in camp, people other than the drivers too were given vaccination. However, the unregulated crowd created chaos as the health officials failed to control the gathering.
“There were no regulations and a panic situation prevailed as Covid protocols were not followed,” Rameshrajan, a resident, said while waiting to take the jab.
He said, “When there is an online registration facility why are the officials making it a walk-in. When the government opened the window for 18+ for vaccination on May 20, we registered online and got the slot. But the officials said they were yet to receive guidelines from the government.”
“The system is not informed properly to the public. Even today, there is no proper announcement that 18+ would get their vaccination. I went to the RCTC campus after hearing from my friends but in vain,” Maheshkumar, another resident, said. He said health officials distributed only 200 tokens and dispersed the rest of the people saying that that was for the day. But, subsequently without announcement 100 more tokens were issued.
“Online registration is the best way to follow,” L Krithika, another resident, said. “Is this to satisfy the minister that the officials are conducting so many vaccination camps even during the lockdown period?” she asked.
However, police brought the situation under control. Deputy director of public health Dr P Balusamy said, “We haven’t started vaccination for the 18+ category yet. The launches are meant for the 17 categories of frontline workers prescribed in the government order.”