Vaccine shortage irks youngsters, senior citizens too sent away
Deepak.Karthik@timesgroup.com
22.05.2021
A day after the vaccination drive against Covid-19 for the 18-44 years age group was launched, youths in several parts of the state are racing to book a slot in the CoWin portal, the official website to register for the jab. But the vaccination slots in private hospitals remain unavailable. And, the urban primary health centres (UPHCs) are not vaccinating them, citing vaccine shortage. They say officials are awaiting further instructions. Senior citizens and people waiting for the second dose too were sent away and asked to come back later. The news about the inauguration of vaccination camps for the 18 + group by chief minister M K Stalin at Tirupur on Thursday seemed to have triggered a rush among the young population in the state to book slots on the CoWin website. Soon, youngsters took to social media platforms to express their frustration over the denial of vaccination.
“Since Thursday, the web portal is displaying booked status and there are no slots available in private hospitals. UPHCs too declined to vaccinate, pointing to limited vaccine stocks,” said Trichy youth Balaji Uthira Kumar. Meanwhile, the surge in Covid infections and mortalities in recent weeks sent panicstricken senior citizens to approach the vaccination centres.
Due to the apprehensions in visiting the government hospitals where Covid screening is underway, the vulnerable population preferred UPHCs. But the senior citizens were turned away and asked to return later. “My parents were scared of visiting government hospitals, so we headed out to an UPHC. But the health staff said they will inform us once the vaccines arrive. People waiting for their second dose too were sent back,” said Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Uyyakondan Thirumalai.
(With inputs from Pratiksha Ramkumar & Padmini Sivarajah)
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