THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Huge rush was witnessed in the vaccination centres in the state on Monday. The inoculation drive has been going on in government hospitals and other centres without following due procedures and without enough preparations. Resentment and opposition are brewing up among the people against the serious lapses in the vaccination drive.

Hostile attitude of staff in Peroorkada

Long queue of people was witnessed in front of Peroorkada district hospital from yesterday 6 AM onwards. Even though the inoculation drive will only start only at 9 AM, people flock to the hospital to get the tokens on time. Most of those who reach the hospital at 6 AM are senior citizens above the age of 60 years, who are suffering from serious diseases. They are also unaware of online booking.

Although the inoculation drive will only commence from 9 AM, tokens for vaccination will only start distributing from 9.30 AM onwards. But even those who were the first ones in the queue got token numbers starting from 90. When they enquired this to the hospital staff, they lashed out at people standing in the queue, “If you have any complaints, tell them to somebody else. We can only do this, now move back,” the hospital staff said.

The authorities claim that they are giving tokens to 150 people for the inoculation drive but they didn’t inform those who were standing in the queue even after the distribution was completed. Many stood in the queue until 1 PM in the afternoon without knowing this. The allegation that hospital staff are giving preference to their relatives and friends is also being raised by the people. Many who were standing in the scorching sun until afternoon had seen many getting inside the hospital through the backdoors and getting vaccinated.

Those who had received the token were also not called as per the token numbers. The people in the queue allege that the hospital staff includes their relatives and friends in the queue and get them vaccinated at the earliest. Some who stood in the queue for hours fainted and as the people started losing patience, the social distance was also not maintained properly

No data available

No data is available on how many people were vaccinated in the district. People are flocking every day to the vaccination centres, without knowing whether will get the vaccines or not. Many get the information that vaccines are in short supply or is not available after reaching the vaccine centre.

Today no inoculation drive will take place in the general hospital and Jimmy George indoor stadium. The inoculation drive will be held in only 30 centres today. The officials in the health department have no clue whether vaccines are available or how much stock of vaccines does the government have?

Online registration only for namesake

Complaints have also risen that those who have registered for the vaccines are not receiving it despite getting the message. Yesterday, people who registered for the vaccines online protested in front of the general hospital for denying the vaccines to them. As per the existing norms, those who received the first shot of vaccine must get the second dose within two weeks. Many are also concerned whether they will get the second shot in the wake of vaccine scarcity.