New guidelines on second dose bring chaos at jab centres
New Delhi: As Delhi witnesses a shortage of vaccinations, people at the centres have said there is confusion even among the staff, making it difficult for them to get vaccinated.
Ritu Jain, a resident of Dwarka has visited her vaccine centre two times in five days, however, due to the website confusion, she is unable to get her second dose of vaccination.
The 53-year-old said that with the guidelines changing, the staff is having a major confusion. "I was given a slot for May 15, however when I went there I was told that now my date will come after 12 weeks according to the new guidelines. It has been nearly 10 weeks since my first dose. When I got my first vaccination, I was not given any date while the staff just told me to register again. When I registered again, I was told I have missed my date, which is why I registered again. But now, they are saying my date will come in another few weeks. They are themselves confused," she said.
However, the Delhi government on Monday said that the Central Government has committed to distributing 3.83 lakh doses for the 45+ age group by May 29. However, it said that the same has not been implemented for the 18 to 44 age group. The younger generation is having no luck accessing the vaccine slot, making it difficult for them to book a time.
A resident of Naraina Vihar, Vani Saini, 24 said that it is difficult to get a slot and despite trying for days she had no luck, which is why she has given up on trying to book for vaccination. "I have joined groups on Telegram that post alerts when the slot is available but the moment I get any information about my area, the slot gets filled. In fact, yesterday I opened it at a time where there were 150 slots but by the time I chose my time and entered the captcha, it was filled."
For Akshat Gupta, finding a slot has been a task. "I read that there are no vaccines in Delhi for young people, then what is the point in getting the slot booked. It is such a hassle to just sit every day and try to get a slot, which gets filled within minutes," he added.
On the other hand, most of the private hospitals in Delhi are yet to start the vaccination due to the shortage. Hospitals like Aakash and Apollo are yet to start the vaccination drive. Meanwhile, Fortis hospital said that it is administering about 2,000 vaccine doses per day from seven hospitals. "We will continue to scale up in the coming days as vaccine availability improves," the hospital said.
