E-Paper
Second vaccination turns woeful for 68-year-old Panchkula woman
Over a five-day period, the elderly citizen went from pillar to post all by herself, waited in long queues for hours, met health officials, wrote applications — all this over a confirmatory text message, that the health department never sent
Amid administrative oversight and a dwindling stock of Covid vaccine, a 68-year-old Panchkula woman, due for her second jab, was made to endure a harrowing experience.
Over a five-day period, she went from pillar to post all by herself, waited in long queues for hours, met health officials, wrote applications — all this over a confirmatory text message, that the health department never sent.
Suresh Rani of Sector 4 received the first dose of Covishield on April 7, but she neither got a text message nor any certificate confirming the administration of the jab to her.
“On July 2 morning, I visited the Sector 16 dispensary to get my second jab. I waited for 2.5 hours in the scorching heat as there was no seating arrangement for the beneficiaries. Despite this, I waited another hour, only to be told by the health staff that there was no record of my first vaccination. It was then recommended that I visit the civil hospital in Sector 6,” said Rani, who had arrived at the dispensary at 10am that day and had to leave at 1pm without the jab.
The next day, she trudged up five floors to meet the civil surgeon at the Sector 6 hospital, but the latter was out for a meeting.
“Someone told me to visit Dr Meenu, who sits in room 104 of a building near Laxmi Narayan Temple. On July 5, I went to see her. After waiting for half an hour, she met me and explained the procedure. She asked me to write an application and give it to the chief medical officer,” said the elderly woman, who wrote to civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur highlighting the issue.
Rani said that the civil surgeon listened to her with patience and called another doctor who told her to visit the Sector 7 dispensary at 12.30pm. However, this only added to her ordeal.
“The situation was bad at the dispensary. There was a long queue of people waiting for jabs in the sun, including elderly citizens and women with little children. Within minutes, they announced that the centre had run out of vaccine,” she said.
Seeing the panic, she decided to leave. But that is when a doctor came looking for her. “She took me to her room, made me drink water and called someone who gave me the jab and certificate,” Rani said, questioning the poor arrangements. “They should have mercy on people, especially the elderly, during this pandemic,” she said.
When asked, immunisation officer Dr Meenu Sasan said, “Those who haven’t got the confirmation of first dose should write an application to the principal medical officer (PMO). It’s after PMO’s confirmation that we can give the second dose.”
Covishield vaccine stock is almost over in Panchkula. There are hardly over 200 doses left, whereas Covaxin is only available for those seeking a second shot.
