E-Paper
Vax shortage gives Panchkula senior citizens a harrowing time
Immunisation officer Dr Meenu Sasan says they had limited stock of vaccines, but they would start getting around 6,000 doses every alternate day May 6 onwards
At the time when the government is encouraging people to get inoculated, it has failed to provide adequate supply of Covid vaccines. The shortage is making many senior citizens in Panchkula run from pillar to post for days to get a shot.
With finite number of doses and limited staff, the health department had to reduce the number of centres to four in urban Panchkula.
Rajender Arora, 72, and his 66-year-old wife Savita Arora have made three rounds to multiple health centres to get their second dose of vaccine in a week, but have to return empty-handed.
“Last month, we got our first dose at the civil dispensary in Sector 20. However, for the last few days, the authorities have stopped administering vaccines at this dispensary. On Tuesday, we left at 7.30am for Sector-12 community centre but despite waiting for an hour, we did not get any token. I then contacted a doctor at the civil hospital, who abruptly cut the call,” Savita said.
The couple then visited civil hospital where they were asked to go to the Sector-26 polyclinic. “We were told to come back tomorrow at the polyclinic as well as at Sector 21,” she added.
The couple said, “We are old and cannot go from one health centre to another for vaccination. The authorities should make the process convenient for people like us.”
They are not the only ones suffering. Ashok Kumar, 65, finally received his second jab after eight weeks of getting the first shot and one week of search.
“I had been visiting the dispensary in Sector 20 and there they used to ask me to visit the next day. Then I went to the dispensary of Sector 12 A, where I was told that they don’t keep Covaxin and told me to visit the community centre in the same sector. There too, the vaccine was out of stock,” he added.
“Then I called a helpline, which asked me to visit either MDC-4 or polyclinic in Sector 26. I visited both the sites, but did not get the shot,” he said further.
Immunisation officer Dr Meenu Sasan, meanwhile, said, “We have limited stock of vaccines. I am left with only 5,000 doses for 45-plus age group and 13,000 for those between 18 years and 44 years. Hence, I have brought down the number of vaccination centres in the district. In rural areas, the number has been reduced to seven from 10. With limited supply, I cannot run vaccination drives at every health centre.”
However, she said that Thursday (May 6) onwards, they would start getting around 6,000 doses every alternate day.
She added that detailed information is being shared on social media platforms, including WhatsApp groups of resident welfare associations.
