Mumbai: Citizens return dejected in Ghatkopar, Mulund

Scores of citizens went home disappointed on Friday after they were turned away from vaccination centres in the eastern suburbs of Mulund and Ghatkopar for want of doses mirroring scenes at inoculation points across the cityChaos ruled the Mulund jumbo COVID19 centre on the LBS Road where the police had to step in to manage queues and social distancing It had just 500 shots in the morning that got over in two to three hoursAuthorities at the jumbo facility took to the public address system to ask those with an appointment to wait but they could not inoculate all such peopleCalling it injustice local resident Mohan Sable said ldquoI am a senior citizen and waited in the sun for one and a half hours When I moved near the gate we were told that there were no vaccines left Had they informed us earlier we would have saved time and effort The poor man is suffering because of politics between the state and the centrerdquoFellow vaccineseeker Mahesh Waghmare was told to go back after waiting for two hours The 73yearold said ldquoHow many times should I take an auto to come and check on this They should have some system to tell how many people they could cater to and take in only that many number of beneficiaries This has happened for the second timerdquoVijay Bhanushali said he learnt at the centre that it would remain shut till Monday He said his ageing parents could not get the jabsSerpentine queues were seen at Mithagar COVID Centre in Mulund East though authorities there were not sure if they would be able to cover all ldquoAs of now we do not have vaccines for tomorrow We will try and give doses till they last and do not know how many they will coverrdquo said centre administrator Swapnil PatilMulund MLA Mihir Kotecha who belongs to the BJP people seem to be rushing to centres over reports of vaccine shortage He said fresh stock was expected in the night and there was no reason to worryldquoSupplies have been steady and there has been mismanagement by the Maharashtra government Powerful leaders in the government have taken away supplies to their rural districtsrdquo he allegedCitizens appeared equally frustrated at Ghatkopar Shreyas Panchal said his parents and grandmother all senior citizens could not get the doses at Sarvodaya HospitalldquoWhat I am most disappointed with is that we were not even notified regarding a shortage of vaccines at the registered centrerdquo he said Prateek Dwivedi said his mother visited the hospital as per her appointment and was greeted with a board that read ldquoClosed due to nonavailability of vaccine from BMCrdquo