As many skip waiting period for AEFIs at drive-ins, concerns of symptoms on road

New Delhi: While the process for walk-in vaccinations is quite clear at this point, the unavailability of vaccines at government centres in the city, and the long waiting times/ queues at private centres have led to a fairly new solution — drive-in vaccination. Delhi residents looking to get vaccinated quickly and willing to pay the price for it can now simply drive to a private vaccination centre and get the jab without leaving their cars.

At the Vegas Mall in Dwarka, Aakash Healthcare has set up a vaccination centre offering both walk-in and drive-through options to patrons. While one dose of the vaccine (Covishield in this case) costs Rs. 1,100 for walk-in vaccination, the same shot costs Rs. 1,400 per dose for the drive-through option. Millennium Post spoke to Aakash Healthcare's Chief of Strategy, Dr Meinal Chaudhry, to understand what is the difference between the two and especially monitoring post-vaccination and the risk involved in experiencing adverse effects while driving.

For starters, the registration process is the same. One must register on the CoWin app, or on Aakash Healthcare's vaccination portal and book the slot and pay digitally.

"It is mandatory to bring an attendant with you, single drivers are not allowed to get the jab. Even though the risk of suffering severe or life-threatening adverse effects is very low, it cannot be risked", Dr Chaudhry said.

However, when two people drive in, then the one who is driving is also allowed to get vaccinated. Dismissing concerns about post-vaccination after-effects on the

road while driving, Dr Chaudhry said, "The risk of getting any kind of adverse reaction after the vaccine is very low and with two people, the risk is cut down in half. Even if you get palpitations and you don't know what to do, there is someone with you who can alert healthcare workers around you. Till now we have seen zero life-threatening adverse effects."

To mitigate the risk of side effects like nausea, dizziness, anaphylaxis (allergic reaction), etc., even further, especially on the road, an adjacent parking facility has been converted into an observation center.

"After you get the jab, you drive into the parking lot next door for half-an-hour where there is space for 50 vehicles at a time. We have an ambulance and a doctor, nurses, medical staff on-hand. If anyone feels discomfort or uneasiness, they can honk their horn and flash their hazard lights and we identify the car and rush to help. This is a government mandate," Dr Chaudhry said, adding that in the absence of early AEFI within 30 minutes of taking the shot, people can safely drive out and late AEFI such as fever or body ache generally develop much later.

However, Astha Joshi (34), who had driven to the Vegas Mall vaccination site on Tuesday with her sibling to

get her first Covishield shot said most people drove off immediately after getting the doses. She said, "The waiting time was easily close to 1.5 hours and the line of cars in front of us was very long. Also, no one was going to the waiting area in the parking lot, everyone was just getting their vaccine and driving off".

Aakash healthcare said they vaccinate approximately 1,000 people a day at the Vegas Mall vaccination site in Dwarka.