Covid-19 vaccination campaign yet to gather pace in Maharashtra

The vaccination campaign in Maharashtra is yet to gather pace. Still in large cities such as Mumbai, sizeable crowds were seen on Tuesday morning outside public hospitals and large clinics, especially for Covid pandemic.

According to the data shared by the State Health Department, till Monday evening, only 946 people with co-morbidities in the age group of 45 and 60 years of age received their first shot. Among the senior citizens, 3,777 received their first dosage.

Eminent neurosurgeon and Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the KEM Hospital in Mumbai, Atul Goel, said that the response to the mass vaccination has been very encouraging, and at the inoculation centre in the hospital, it felt like a ‘Vaccination Festival’ with eligible members of the general population turning out in their best attire.

KEM, which was established in 1926, is one of the largest municipal hospitals in Mumbai city.

Senior citizen Kalpesh Shah said that on Tuesday morning, he went to the jumbo Covid clinic facility at Bandra-Kurla Complex, but there was a heavy rush therefore he had to turn back. But in the afternoon, he went again visited the facility and took his first dosage.

In the distant Rajapur taluka in coastal the Ratnagiri district, Amol Kambali, who works as a driver on a contractual basis with the Rajapur civil hospital also got himself inoculated on Tuesday.

Kambali said that being a front line worker, he was eligible to get the inoculation for the last two months, but he was hesitant. However, today with many people getting the shots at Rajapur hospital, he also decided to get himself inoculated.

Immediate past president of Maharashtra unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Avinash Bhondwe had told BusinessLine on Monday that a number a people wanting to register on the Covin app for the vaccination found the process very cumbersome. Even after registering the mobile number over three times, the OTP did not get generated. The selection of hospitals and other functions in the app were not working properly.

He said that when educated people face such a problem, then imagine the plight of the uneducated or not technologically savvy people. Therefore, booths similar to elections booths should be created for guiding such people.

Secretary-General of IMA (Headquarters) Jayesh Lele said that the Centre has decided only those private hospitals empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) will be able to provide vaccination to the general population.