BMC's vaccination drive: Walk-in system stopped suddenly over glitch

Citizens wait at the Dahisar Jumbo COVID Centre on Monday. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Technical glitches prevented walk-in senior citizens from getting a vaccine at Dahisar Jumbo COVID Care Centre after 2 pm. Many returned home and those who had registered themselves had a rough ride.

Sharad Samant

Most senior citizens were accompanied by their children. Girish Pewekar, 65, and Sunita Pewekar, 69, came from Borivli for a walk-in vaccine but didn't get one due to technical issues. Harsh Chedda from Kandivli, too, returned disappointed. "We were told there's no entry without registration after we arrived here. Why then did they give the option in the first place?" Chedda said.

Some lucky individuals did manage to get the vaccine via the walk-in option. Sharad Samant, 65, resident of Abbinav Nagar and his wife Nisha, 63, got the jab. "We took a chance with walk-in and are glad that we got our first dose. Certainly, there were issues and delays. But we are happy that we waited," said Sharad.

The first senior couple to get vaccinated was Prakash Shenai, 69, and Deepali, 60. They waited over two hours to get the jab.

"The online registration system was smooth. I can't believe that people faced delays due to technical issues. I registered in 1-20 minutes and then came here," said Chintan Japee, a Borivli resident. Arpana Awasthi, a Kandivli resident, brought her mother Kamala, 76, a cancer survivor and father, Prabhakar, 80, who has had bypass surgery for walk-in vaccine but had to wait for quite some time.

"It is a centralised process, so there was some technical issue. However, it was resolved soon and once the process began, it was a smooth ride," said Dr. Bhaskar Patil, additional dean of the centre.

Hunt for slots
Manohar Chavan, 82, and his wife Mrunalini, 76, from Dadar came to Dahisar as they could not get a slot anywhere nearby. "We wanted to take the vaccine as soon as possible. My son tried to get a slot at different centres but we got one only at Dahisar," said Mrunalini, who was excited about the vaccine.