Mumbai: Chaos at RN Cooper Hospital as it runs out of vaccine for students

Chaos broke out at civic-run RN Cooper Hospital on Monday as several students, who are to fly abroad for studies and have to mandatorily get vaccinated before flying out of the country, were asked to go back home due to non-availability of vaccine doses

Chaos broke out at civic-run RN Cooper Hospital on Monday as several students, who are to fly abroad for studies and have to mandatorily get vaccinated before flying out of the country, were asked to go back home due to non-availability of vaccine doses.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has designated several vaccination centres in the city where students going abroad for educational purposes are given vaccines. A total of 5,000 such students have been inoculated till Monday, after the dedicated drive started 45 days ago.

On Monday, BMC had allotted four centres — Dahisar Jumbo, RN Cooper, Rajawadi and Kasturba Gandhi Hospitals — for vaccination drive for such students between 9am and 5pm. But due to shortages of doses, the centres were given only 200 doses each, which was not adequate considering the high demand among students.

Ayush Tripathi, 26, who had gone to RN Cooper Hospital on Monday, said, “When I went to Cooper hospital around 11am, there was complete chaos and students were shouting and asking for jabs. However, hospital authorities said they do not have vaccines available.”

He added, “Later, police were brought in and we were asked to go back home. But to my surprise, when I went back in the evening, I was told to directly go inside where I was given the shot. The management can be better prepared to ensure there is no repetition of chaos like today.”

Sana Sattani, 26, said, “I got my first dose of Covishield on May 25 and now I need my second dose before July 15 as I am headed to the USA for further studies. But looking at the management at the hospital today, I have very little hope left.”

Sattani added, “If I do not get the second dose before July 15, I might have to wait for another year to start my studies abroad. I feel the Cooper hospital authority should understand and give priority to students going abroad rather than giving excuse of shortage of vaccine doses.”

Several students also took to social media and alleged that those waiting from 6am were not given the shots while some were given preference by giving back-door entry. BMC clarified that they had distributed tokens and only those with tokens were given vaccines, and added that it was not done based on reference.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “Each centre was given 200 doses for the students. At Cooper hospital, the vials got over faster while the demand was quite high. We would still look into the incident for further clarification.”

Meanwhile, Cooper hospital administration blamed lack of vials as the reason behind the chaos. “We get over 400 students daily for inoculation, but we aren’t getting enough vials. Students start lining up from 6am. Also, we have been instructed to prioritise beneficiaries for the second dose so, we cannot use their doses for the students,” said a senior doctor who is looking after the vaccination drive at the centre.