Mumbai: Small vaccination centres, private hospitals become hotspots of chaos

With the civic body allowing walkin vaccinations at its centres on certain days corporators are having a field day at smaller centres by helping their friends and contacts get the vaccines on priority by jumping the queue They are claiming how they have been instrumental in getting the centres opened This has naturally not gone down well with locals whose wrath the helpless civic staffers are having to bear With the BMC having established vaccination centres in almost each of the 227 corporator wards in the city the elected representatives have been calling their friends and getting them vaccines without waiting in the queueBeneficiaries in a queue at a chaotic Lifeline Hospital in Malad on TuesdayCivic sources said that they are the ones being yelled upon on walkin days because of thisThe BMC has decided to allow walkin vaccinations from Monday to Wednesday for a few weeks where senior citizens can walk in for the first dose and those aged 45 and above can walk in for the second dose It is not clear if civic elections will be held next year but politicians seem to be milking the opportunity anywayWhile the drive seems to be smooth at major centres it is the smaller centres that are suffering A health official at an Andheri centre said ldquoThis is also happening on the days of appointments where citizens who donrsquot have appointments are coming through their references and if we donrsquot allow them the corporators start calling us up and questioning us On walkin days they are themselves present at the centre giving direct entries to their friendsrdquoAlso Read Mumbai Lactating mothers can walk in today for Covid19 vaccinationIt was Shiv Sena minister Aaditya Thackeray whorsquod suggested that each of the 227 wards get a vaccination centre A BMC corporator said ldquoWe have been working since Day One of the pandemic and we are continuing this by helping those who come to us asking for helprdquo An Andheri resident said ldquoI have been going to a primary health centre at Four Bungalows The vaccination centre started around four weeks ago and my second Covishield dose was due For two days I was sent back but I saw my neighbour getting the shot as he was escorted by the corporatorrsquos associates The local leaders told me to come on Wednesday and that they will help me get the shotrdquoChaos at private centreOn a particularly chaotic Tuesday a vaccine beneficiary who had reserved a slot at Lifeline Hospital Malad came out of the centre completely exhausted mdash not because of the vaccine but because of the long wait to get the shot While people had to wait in the queue for almost six hours they were not even given vaccine certificates despite having taken an appointment through CoWINBeneficiaries were crammed in a small space at Lifeline Hospital in Malad Many tweeted about the mismanagement and tagged the BMCIn addition the hospital did not even have a proper waiting area for the postjab observation periodA beneficiary Aditya Anand who had booked a slot at Lifeline Hospital said ldquoAfter trying for four days I managed to get a slot but only to be disappointed and worried as we were crammed in a small place where social distancing went for a toss I had visited the hospital which was mentioned on the CoWIN receipt but I was told that the vaccination is being given at a different place about five minutes awayAfter going there at 11 am I saw chaos unfold it was a nightmare I was not given a certificate there was no waiting area a Covid19 patient was taken upstairs from where we were waiting We had to move to make way They are blatantly allowing walkins through references and we were just asked to wait as their server was down I finally got my jab at 450 pmrdquoMegha Ghose who had visited the hospital tweeted ldquomybmc it was a frustrating and a difficult task to get a slot through cowin now that you get the vaccination centre life line Malad they are prioritising walkins over your immense hard work of acquiring a spot extremely disappointing sicrdquoSahil Shahrsquos tweet read ldquoMy parents had taken 1st dose of Covishield on 1st April 2021 at Lifeline Hospital Malad but the Certificate is not issued yet I have visited Hospital twice but not getting proper responserdquoDr Vaishal Shah of Lifeline Hospital did not respond to middayrsquos calls and messagesA queue at Nanavati Hospital Citizens said that crowds have been increasing at the hospital too File picAnother citizen who received their first dose at Nanavati Hospital on Monday had a similar experience The hospital had reached 900 registrations by early this week ldquoWhile the long queue was orderly it got worse once people were sent in batches for registration and payments which happened in a cramped room in the basement two levels downrdquo said the beneficiary ldquoAfter that we were made to wait for another 30 minutes in the basement auditorium which seemed pretty highrisk As the number of slots increases and walkins begin the situation is bound to become more chaotic in private hospitalsrdquo227No of corporator wards in city nearly all have a vaccination centre now