KOCHI/T’PURAM: Even as the state government is urging people to get vaccinated at the earliest opportunity, the hassles posed by technical glitches on the CoWin portal and the shortage of vaccine supply are giving people, especially the elderly, a hard time.
With online registration remaining an uphill task, many approach the vaccination centres expecting spot registration, resulting in confusion and chaos. While most of the vaccination centres provide around 100 doses per day and have allotted specific time slots for people, centres continue to witness crowding. People also allege a lack of coordination and cooperation from staff at vaccination centres -- both government and private -- which make life miserable, especially for the elderly, amid the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Rajendran V, a 47-year-old resident of Aluva, tried to register on the CoWin portal on Thursday to get vaccination for his wife, but was unable to get a slot.
“I have already taken the first dose, and was trying to get a slot for my wife. Normally, after registering on the portal and choosing the slot, a message scheduling the date and time of vaccination is shown. This time I didn’t receive any message. Though I contacted the private hospital from where I took the jab, we were asked not to come as vaccine was in short supply,” said Rajendran.
Though the health department suspended spot registration from Thursday to streamline the vaccination process and reduce the crowd, many are still unaware of this. After trying their luck with online registration in vain, many approach the centres, hoping to get a slot. “I have been trying to get the second dose for myself and my wife for the past four days. We managed to get the slots booked through a nearby computer centre. But our slots keep getting cancelled,” said Rajasekharan Nair, a septuagenarian, from Mavelikkara.
He then visited the district hospital in Mavelikkara to attempt spot registration on Saturday. But there were many like him and the crowd had to be dispersed after the staff said only those with confirmed bookings would get the jabs.
According to a staffer at the hospital, quarrels between people coming without bookings and the staff are regular affairs at several vaccination centres. “We even resort to announcement through loudspeakers to disperse the crowd,” said a staff nurse.
Meanwhile, several people are also facing difficulty in rescheduling vaccination slots. “For some reason, if we are unable to receive vaccine on the particular day and time slot allotted to us, the registration expires. Rescheduling the slot is a painful process. The phone number given for assistance by the Centre in this regard does not work,” said Sumithra J, a resident of Pathanamthitta.
Even as technical glitches with regard to online registration give people a harrowing time, state health officials and authorities expressed helplessness while passing the buck to the Centre.
“The portal is controlled by the Centre and, therefore, the state government cannot do anything to resolve the glitches. We have instructed private hospital authorities and government staff to cooperate with the people and to vaccinate all those who have registered on the portal and are awaiting slots, considering the availability of vaccines,” said a health official.
Various doctors’ organisations have called for active intervention of local bodies and Akshaya centres to help people with online registrations (on the website cowin.gov.in). According to the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association, there is a severe shortage of data entry operators at vaccination centres to meet the demand of people looking for spot registration.
Herculean task ahead
Around 42 per cent of those above 45 years (1.13 crore people) have taken the first dose so far.
Though the state had demanded 50 lakh doses of the Covid vaccine, it has received only 11.5 lakh doses over the past three weeks.
The delay has forced the state to vaccinate 3.70 lakh people daily to meet the target of vaccinating all aged above 45 years by May 20.
The earlier plan was to vaccinate 2.5 lakh people a day to meet the target
15,259 people vaccinated at 613 centres on Sunday