SHILLONG, May 14: Chaos reigned supreme on Day 1 of the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group at Shillong Civil Hospital on Friday. However, the drive was conducted smoothly in other designated centres across the state.
Data released by the National Health Mission at 8 pm said 1,907 out of 1,950 people who had booked their slots were vaccinated across the state. The response has enthused officials who have been unhappy with the turnout of people above 45 years.
An official said the booking of slots will open again for a week from this Sunday through registration on the CoWIN portal.
CROWDING AT CIVIL HOSPITAL
A large number of people landed at Shillong Civil Hospital at the same time on Friday despite being given exact time slot during the registration. The vaccination drive at the hospital, slated to begin at 9.30 am, was delayed as the vaccines arrived after 10 am.
Nurses deployed on vaccination duty were unaware of the timing and slots shared on mobile numbers of beneficiaries who had booked their slots for the first jab on Friday.
Adding to the chaos, several citizens above 45 years of age also arrived at the hospital to receive their second jab. They were turned away without vaccination.
Elderly citizens, disappointed at being turned away, questioned why the government did not publicise that persons above 45 years of age would not be vaccinated on Friday.
This scribe, who was present at the scene, witnessed crowding in the waiting room as registered beneficiaries failed to maintain social distancing protocol.
Congress MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh who had accompanied her son for his first shot of the vaccine at Shillong Civil Hospital, was concerned over the chaos and commented that the state government should immediately remove the hospital’s name from the list of vaccination centres.
“How can you expect the hospital to cater to COVID-19 patients, test suspects and contacts and also act as a vaccination centre, all at the same time,” she questioned.
Admitting that the government was doing all it could to achieve herd immunity by conducting aggressive vaccination drives, she said, “The manner in which these drives are being conducted has to be reviewed and corrected at the earliest.”
She also lamented that nurses had to jot down names of registered persons and administer vaccines at the same time. “The government could have set up a helpdesk manned by volunteers instead of employing the nurses for this work,” she added.
Lyngdoh also observed that violation of social distancing protocol would pose a serious threat to those standing in queue to get the vaccine. “There is a high probability that those standing in queue are asymptomatic and could be carrying of the virus,” she said.
Besides Shillong Civil Hospital, the drive was held at MIMHANS, Rynjah State Dispensary, Nazareth Hospital and Bethany Hospital.
National Health Mission, Mission Director, Ram Kumar however clarified that the vaccination for the 45+ will continue all over the state.
“The hospital might have turned away the 45+ citizens today to ensure that there is no overcrowding. Vaccination for 18-44 age group and 45+ will go on simultaneously,” he added.
