Margao: Hundreds of people in Salcete taluka in the age group of 18-44 Sunday came out and participated in the third phase of Tika Utsav organised by the state government in its battle against COVID-19.

It may be noted that on Friday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced that the government will start on July 13 Tika Utsav 3.0, which is a vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group.

Village panchayats have appealed to the villagers to participate in the drive and get themselves inoculated. A sarpanch, who did not want to be named, said, “We can appeal to the villagers but can’t force them to participate in the vaccination drive, but we are happy with the response.”

Another sarpanch said panchayats have taken great efforts to reach out to the people and urge them to take the vaccine. “However, the government needs to give the people more days to get vaccinated, as the time provided is not sufficient, given that ours is a young generation,” he said.

A beneficiary Sandra D’Silva (name changed) said, “I have been trying for the last 20 days but the slots have not been open. On the contrary, it appears that the slots were only available in private hospitals, which are charging exorbitant fees for the vaccine dose. Further, the timings of the listings have been irregular thus raising doubt about the genuineness of the vaccination drive. I have successfully got the first jab and I hope there is nothing fishy about what I have been administered,” she said.