BENGALURU: The turnout of the elderly and people with comorbidities improved on the second day of phase 3, although glitches on the CoWin portal created a setback initially.On Tuesday, 1,147 people with comorbidities and 5,166 elderly got their first shot of the vaccine across the state, while on Monday just 374 people with comorbidities and 1,576 senior citizens had got vaccinated. Cumulative figures showed that Bengaluru Urban had the highest turnout for phase 3 with 766 people aged above 45 and 1,387 people over 60 getting the jab. Chamarajanagar district fared the worst, with just five people with comorbidities and 23 elderly being inoculated over two days.
Dr Jyothi Neeraja, managing director and CEO of People Tree Hospital, said that despite CoWin troubles, the number of people getting vaccinated on Tuesday was higher. “On Monday, we saw about 20 beneficiaries, but on Tuesday there were around 200. CoWIN had many glitches, but BBMP staff were continuously monitoring the situation and ensuring that it was streamlined. However, in the long run, online registration will not work. The government needs to introduce on-the-spot registration, which will speed up the process. Hospital staff can then upload details on the app. Many senior citizens who are not tech-savvy had turned up for spot-registration,” she said.
The situation was similar at Apollo Hospitals too. “We saw a great turnout. At our Jayanagar branch especially, there were 140 people on Tuesday as against 92 on Monday,” said Dr Sahana Govindaiah, assistant director for medical services, Apollo Hospitals. The hospital chain vaccinated a total of 320 people on Tuesday.Over 120 people, including Lokayukta P Vishwanatha Shetty, got their jab at Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, said Dr Naresh Shetty, hospital president.