ROURKELA: Two days back, Mahendra Lakra of Kutra block waited overnight at the local community health centre (CHC) and got vaccinated the next morning.
Villagers from 10-15 km radius are making a beeline at the CHC from 8 pm onwards and getting vaccinated after collecting coupons the next morning.
Kutra claims a sizable number of villagers are also returning empty-handed due to the limited stock of doses.
That’s the vaccination scenario at present in Sundargarh district. Amid heightened fears of the third Covid wave affecting children the most, the administration is focusing on augmentation of paediatric care facilities by overlooking the need of streamlining the vaccination drive in the district.
Chaotic scenes are being witnessed at rural vaccination centres with villagers waiting overnight for their doses.
Sources said the vaccine hesitancy among rural population seems to have disappeared after the deadly second wave with villagers showing desperation to get themselves inoculated. But there are not enough Covid doses to meet the demand.
Rourkela city with mandatory online slot booking is no better.
A majority of vaccine seekers, especially those needing the second dose, are left disappointed with online slots getting exhausted within minutes.
Those associated with the vaccination drive said the Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) announced slot booking for September 5 to 13. No sooner booking opened at 9 am on September 4, all slots for around 40,000 doses got booked within three minutes.
Vaccination volunteer Rohit Garg pointed out that from May onwards, special drives were held to vaccinate people below 44 years of age.
These people along with those above 45 years of age have become eligible for second dose and this is leading to chaotic scenes.
A special vaccination drive is needed to administer the second dose to all the beneficiaries, he added.
Sources said till September, a total of 8,44,309 persons across the district have got the first dose while 2,51,839 received both doses.
Around 8,000 doses are being administered daily. The projected adult population of the district is around 17.87 lakh.
Sundargarh chief district medical and public health officer Dr SK Mishra claimed that the vaccination scenario has improved with the district receiving 1.30 lakh doses two days back.
“By Monday evening, another 60,000 doses are expected to arrive. The doses are being distributed proportionately. The administration would be apprised about the need of enforcement,” he added.