THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state’s first drive-in vaccination camp organised by the district administration started in the capital has received an overwhelming response. In four days, nearly 4,000 people above 18 years of age received the shots from vehicles with the effective coordination between the district administration and health department. The district administration also plans to open more drive-through centres after monitoring this camp for one week. At present, there is only one drive-in vaccination camp functioning at Government Women’s College at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram.
The camp began on Thursday and the vaccination is done through the slots given from online booking. This new concept has been widely acclaimed by the public as they do not have to wait standing in a queue for a long time. Dr Vineeth V N , coordinator of the drive-through vaccination programme, told TNIE that people are generally happy with this concept.
“So far, 3,600 people came for drive-through vaccination. The camp is functioning from noon to midnight. So the people can come any time in this period if their online booking is confirmed. There are 25 volunteers and 20 health workers working on a shift basis. Hence we can easily manage to give vaccines without any hiccups. Those who come without a vehicle will also be vaccinated. However, mostly people coming in cars and autorickshaws are getting vaccinated in their vehicles and those who come in two-wheelers are instructed to get down after receiving the shot to sit and take rest for a while to check any post-vaccine symptoms,” he said.
According to a senior official with district administration, the expansion of the drive-in vaccination camp will be taken into consideration only after a week of monitoring the camp at Women’s College. “Since there is a shortage of health workers, we will weigh all the options to accommodate health workers if we open more centres in the district. So we will consider it after a week. However, more centres in the districts are likely to come up,” the official said.
In the camp, there are different counters and help desks provided for the people for vaccination. The police personnel are also deployed to regulate the entry and exit of vehicles. Officers assigned for vaccination procedures will approach the vehicle and do the required procedures.
Vaccination is being given to those above 18 years of age through online registration. Spot registration will be open everyday at 3 pm from Wednesday. It is being organised as part of the ‘Trivandrum Ahead’ initiative of the district administration. The drive is aimed at vaccinating as many people as possible.