With the district administration opening government health facilities in Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada for providing first doses of vaccine to those aged 45 and above, people gathered in large numbers at Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) and PHCs on Monday. Authorities had to make use of local volunteers to ensure vaccination for 300 people at UPHCs and convince the others to come at a later date.
As per COWIN portal, a total of 10,708 persons received the vaccine in Dakshina Kannada on Monday.
Meanwhile, with about 6,000 doses of vaccine provided by the Union government, the district administration called those in the 45+ age category to give free their first dose at 10 UPHCs in Mangaluru and PHCs in Bantwal, Puttur, Belthangady and Sullia taluks.
At many vaccination centres, people started to queue up at 4 a.m. itself. Councillor from Attavar ward Shailesh Shetty and a group of volunteers from COVID War Room and Indian Red Cross Society opened the classrooms of Cascia High School in Jeppu and made 250 people and 50 health workers sit there. Others were asked to leave the premises and the school gate was closed. Tokens were given after authorities came at around 10 a.m. and vaccination commenced soon after. A total of 359 persons received the vaccine at the school.
It was not so smooth an affair at the UPHC in Shakti Nagar where too people started assembling at 4 a.m. As health personnel started distributing tokens at 9 a.m., people expressed their anguish over the lack of sufficient doses. “We had a hard time convincing people to return home and come at a later date,” said an health officer from the UPHC. After giving vaccine to 200 people in the morning, the authorities called 100 people, who were in the queue in the morning, to get their vaccine at 2 p.m. A total of 333 persons were administered vaccine at this UPHC.
More than 500 people, including an elderly Uday Nayak, who recently underwent surgery in his left leg after an accident, were at the UPHC in Padil when tokens for vaccination were issued at 7 a.m. “Fortunately, I could get a token. This is my fourth visit to the UPHC,” said Mr. Nayak, who was still waiting at the UPHC during the afternoon session. While those in the 45+ group were vaccinated in the adjoining building of an educational institution, 50 health workers received the vaccine at the UPHC.
Alape North Councillor Roopashri Poojary stayed put at the vaccination centre along with volunteers to cool down tempers of people and ensure smooth vaccination of 362 people at the UPHC in Padil.
