Thiruvananthapuram: Chaos reigned supreme at vaccination centres the day after the Kerala government made online registration mandatory for receiving the immunization drug against the COVID-19 pandemic.
People turned up in large numbers at the centres, unaware of the government order by which the spot registration for the jab was stopped recently. Tempers ran high at several vaccination centres, and in some places, irked members of the public and healthcare providers almost came to blows.
With the situation spinning out of control, authorities decided to allow spot registration. Concerned over the overcrowding at the centres, healthcare professionals warned of the possibility of such points becoming virus hotspots.
The Directorate of Health had a week ago recommended a separate queue system for those seeking the second dose of the vaccine. The health department, however, stood adamant, saying only online registration was necessary, which the chief minister announced on Wednesday.
The Central government has been controlling the vaccine distribution in the country through the CoWin portal. Information on centres where the vaccine is available are provided at district levels. But the portal does not support registration at such centres, making people throng such points for vaccination.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, said the decision to allow registration only through online would not be changed. Vaccine would be administered to those who had already made the spot registration. Online registration is mandatory for the second dose also.
Incidentally, Keralites had been utilising the spot registration option more. There have been no separate facilities at the vaccination centres for those who had registered online.
The flaws in the registration process
· No separate centres for online and spot registrations. All reached the same centre, leading to crowding.
· People preferring spot registration had to reach the centres before 7 am.
· Those who registered online were directed to queue up behind those who made physical registration at the centre.
· The norm that vaccine would be administered only after getting the token at the centre, even after registering online, further worsened the situation.
· The distribution of tokens was not transparent. Health department officials and their relatives/friends got more tokens.
· There was no priority for those seeking the second dose. Fearing they won’t get the jab on time, they crowded the centres.
· Adding to the chaos even centres where the vaccine was out of stock allowed registration. Many reached the centre only to find it closed due to the non-availability of the vaccine. Several centres, which the district administrations said have been included in the portal, were not found online.
· There were no means to inform the registered beneficiaries if the vaccine was not available at the centre.
· No transparency on the number of doses reaching each centre, and the number of doses administered.
· The unexpected discontinuation of spot registration affected the public no end.
Possible solutions
Though the decision to make online registration mandatory is a positive move, separate spot registration counters or vaccination centres are necessary for those facing problems with online registration. For instance, if there are four centres, two of them could be set aside for spot registrations.
Employing the FasTAG model for online registrations would have avoided crowding at the centres. Spot registration option could be offered to others.
Only 8.37 lakh people got second dose
The second dose was administered to only 8.37 lakh people, though 55.09 lakh had received the first dose in the State. Flawed planning has been blamed for the low distribution of the second dose.
Of the 4.96 lakh healthcare workers who had the first dose since the commencement of the vaccination drive on January 16, 74 per cent received the second dose. In case of frontline workers, 57 per cent of the 4.68 lakh people, who were administered the first dose, received the second shot.
After the first round, 16 per cent of the 1.13 crore population above 60 and those aged over 45 and with serious health conditions, were given vaccination from March 1.
Netizens launch #800challenge
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund received Rs 22 lakh till 4.30 pm on Thursday. The amount was contributed by those who had received free vaccination.
Vijayan said the voluntary contribution revealed that people were standing by the government during crisis situations, reflecting the collective strength of Kerala.
A massive campaign was voluntarily launched following the State government’s decision to distribute the vaccine free of cost. The contributions continued even after 4.30 pm, and it touched Rs 39 lakh late on Thursday. The donations were made by 1,580 people.
The campaign requested donations after the Central government estimated that Rs 800 would be required for inoculating a person against COVID-19. The Centre has also asked the State to directly procure the drug from vaccine manufacturers.
The request was made under the hashtag, #800challenge.
