Covid-19: Health staff struggle to maintain crowds at vaccination centres

Health staff struggled to manage large crowds at vaccination centres and follow vaccination protocols at several session sites on Monday, as the health department held a walk-in mega vaccination drive. Social distancing norms went for a toss while monitoring of beneficiaries for adverse effects of the vaccine was not possible due to the large crowds, a visit by HT found. At a few centres, vaccination was done before registration on the Co-WIN portal.

Health staff struggled to manage large crowds at vaccination centres and follow vaccination protocols at several session sites on Monday, as the health department held a walk-in mega vaccination drive. Social distancing norms went for a toss while monitoring of beneficiaries for adverse effects of the vaccine was not possible due to the large crowds, a visit by HT found. At a few centres, vaccination was done before registration on the Co-WIN portal.

Large crowds were witnessed on Monday, as the health department allowed walk-in vaccination drive, including for daily wage workers who do not have any ID. (PTI)

The problems were especially acute at four sites set up for daily wagers at Labour Chowk in Sector 5, Khandsa and Patel Nagar. The sites were set up along the roadside, under a tree canopy, with little space for social distancing and a lack of a dedicated observation area.

“It was difficult to handle the crowd as people other than daily wage workers turned up in large numbers. Even commuters stopped by to get vaccinated. They showed their Aadhaar cards to get their vaccine shot,” said Pankaj, a data entry operator at the Anaj Mandi vaccination centre, where a minor scuffle broke out as people argued over their turns.

Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer of Gurugram, said, “It was a major vaccination drive and some mismanagement might have taken place at some centres. These four sites were the special vaccination sites to cover people who did not have proper ID proof.”

According to the health department data, at least 398 daily wage workers were inoculated on Monday.

“There are now two processes to do on-spot registration, one with proper ID and another for those lacking any ID proof, as daily wage workers do not always carry their identity card. After registration and vaccination, they are given a receipt mentioning the date of vaccination, along with the seal of the medical department,” said Rajesh Kumar, a data entry operator at the Labour Chowk vaccination camp

Rishikesh, a native of Munger in Bihar, who works as a daily wage labourer in the city, said that he is unaware of when or where to get the second dose. “I have been given a receipt mentioning name and data of the vaccination but there is no mention of the date for the second dose,” he said.

Officials said that there was hesitancy among migrant workers to take the jab. “Despite repeated attempts, many workers refused to get vaccinated as they feared getting sick and not being able to work,” said Kumar.

Anil Kumar, a construction worker who was waiting at Sector 5, said, “If I don’t get a job before 11am, then I can think of getting vaccinated. I cannot afford to lose my day’s wage for vaccination.”