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High drama as hundreds waiting for hours told to leave at Panchkula vax centre
Special drive on Nurses’ Day lures residents in large numbers to hospital, which is also aCovid care centre, while adequate doses were not available
Tempers flared at the Civil Hospital in Sector 6 as hundreds of people waiting for hours for Covid vaccine were told to return empty handed on Wednesday evening.
Even those reaching at 4pm, ran into a queue of 300 people, who had arrived after reading or hearing news about a special event at the hospital, which normally does not host vaccinations, being a Covid care centre.
“There was a news report that vaccination drive will go on till late evening at the Sector 6 hospital and people can reach by 5pm. But even after joining the queue at 4pm, I didn’t move three to four steps for the next two hours,” said Inayat Kakar, a Panchkula resident.
She complained that while the vaccination moved at a snail’s pace with hundreds still in queue, a few VIPs went in for shots easily.
As the staff announced the stock was over and the window was closed, heated arguments erupted.
“Why invite people when they cannot manage the drive? Worse, people are being exposed to infection by holding the vaccination drive at a Covid care centre,” said Kakar, who returned without a jab at 6.30pm.
When contacted, immunisation officer Meenu Sasan said the large-scale drive was held without her permission. “I never allow vaccination at a hospital that is treating Covid patients. There will be no more vaccination there.”
She said the principal medical officer did approach her for a small vaccination event for around 100 people in view of Nurses’ Day, while saying that they will manage it, so she had only allowed that.
Later, in the evening, she got a call during a meeting that lots of people had reached the hospital for vaccination. But, it was not managed as promised, she said.
Vaccination pace slowing down
Even though Panchkula took the lead in tricity in starting the third phase of vaccination for the 18-44 drive on May 2, its vaccination numbers have declined since April.
Only 24,110 people have been vaccinated in the first 11 days of May, compared to 27,920 in the same period in April.
This, despite the sharp surge in new infections and deaths. While the district had logged 8,013 cases through April, the figure has already reached 5,319 in just 12 days of May. Worse, at 60, the deaths this month have already surpassed April’s 53.
Yet, the younger population is still finding it a challenge to book a slot, which gets full within a few minutes. “I have been trying to book a slot for several days now, but in vain. The slots are always full,” said Uday, a Panchkula resident.
Another youth, Aakash, said he had been facing the same issue, with the slots turning red within a few seconds for the past three days.
While those in the 18-44 category struggle for slots, those above 45 years are facing a tough time due to non-availability of the right vaccine for their second dose. For instance, there is no Covaxin stock at the government dispensaries in Sectors 7 and 12.
To this, Dr Sasan said, “The vaccination drive depends on the supply of vaccines. In the beginning of May, there was a shortage of supply, hence the drive slowed down. But, we are trying our best to manage within the limited resources.”
“The number of sites has been decreased for now, as our focus will be on covering those living in slums,” she added.
