At Mulund and Ghatkopar, most choose Covaxin on day 1 of COVID-19 vaccination drive for citizens above 45 yrs

People over 45 years get registered for the vaccination at Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar on Thursday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Day 1 of the vaccination drive for citizens above 45 years on Thursday received a mixed response. While most vaccination centres worked in two shifts, the crowds were not as expected at Mulund and Ghatkopar. But citizens seemed to be favouring Covaxin over Covishield, with more crowds lined up for the former. However, officials said there was no question of choosing between both vaccines, as both were equally safe.

"Today is just the first day and the crowds are not as expected. There was some confusion on timings and now things have been streamlined. I think crowds will start coming in on the weekend and from Monday. As it was a working day, probably the response was low," Dr Abhay Naik from Mulund Jumbo COVID Centre said.

Dinesh Gor's wife takes a picture of him after vaccination. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

The Mulund-Nahur stretch has five vaccination centres and all saw an average turnout in the first half of the day. Local resident Dinesh Bhanushali said he wanted his wife too, to get the jab.

"My wife is still not 45 yet, can she get the vaccine? I feel everyone who has not taken it should go ahead and fearlessly take it," he said.

Prafulla Bhanushali (in orange) and Anita Verma, who also got vaccinated at Mulund. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

Working professionals Dinesh Gor and his wife also got vaccinated at the Mulund Jumbo COVID Centre. "It was smooth sailing as the centre is pretty organised," Gor said as the couple clicked pictures after getting the jab.

Another local resident, Prafulla Bhanushali, said that it was easy to walk in and one just needs valid documents to enter. Anita Verma, yet another resident, said that there were no immediate symptoms after getting the vaccine.

An interesting trend was that citizens were favouring Covaxin over Covishield. At Ghatkopar's civic-run Rajawadi Hospital, for example, there were five tables to register for Covishield and one table for Covaxin. But that one table of Covaxin had a long queue as people said they would wait instead of taking the other vaccine. "We have read that this is much more effective," said another local resident, Amar Bhanushali.