BENGALURU: After much trouble, you may have finally been successful in booking a slot for vaccination on the CoWIN portal. But even that does not assure you of a Covid-19 vaccine jab. Citizens are complaining that though the portal confirms the venue, date and time, they don’t get a jab when they go there.
Recently, Lakshman Raju, booked a slot for his mother, aged above 55, and got a confirmation message for the jab to be taken between 2 pm and 4 pm at a primary health centre in Vidyaranyapura. “When we went to the location, they said they are vaccinating only those who are due for the second dose. They should have a disclosure on the CoWIN portal so we do not go to the spot and wait needlessly,” Raju rued.
Mithun Gangadhar had a similar experience on Friday. He was given a slot between 10 am and 11 am for vaccinating his mother. When he went to the Anganwadi in Ramamurthy Nagar, about 5 km from his house in Kasturi Nagar, he was informed that they did not have stock. “They should have informed us in advance. There was no place to sit or park my vehicle. Now, I plan to get the jab through my office for my mother, my wife and myself,” Gangandhar said.
Similarly, Sunitha booked a slot on CoWIN on May 4 at a PHC in Banashankari. When she got there, she was told that there was no stock. “The staff there said even though the Arogya Setu portal shows slots are available, they don’t have vaccine stocks,” Sunitha said.
BBMP Health Commissioner Rajendra Cholan said there is sufficient stock of vaccines and each day, 200 doses are given per ward for the 45+ age group from the 40,000-45,000 vials allocated by the State Government. And, 40 per cent of it is used for the second dose and the remaining for the first dose.
“There is a shortage of Covaxin, but not Covishield. We inform the PHC beforehand if there is no stock, so they can put up a board to inform citizens. The slots are pre-booked on CoWIN. So, on the day of vaccination, the status of the stock may be different. There is no option on CoWIN to put any disclaimer,” Cholan said.