Fresh doses to boost vaccination drive

2.5 lakh doses allotted to four districts, administration in 108 centres in capital, no spot registration

Futile wait: People waiting to get vaccinated on General Hospital premises in the city on Thursday. Many came to know about the mandatory online registration only after a long wait, leading to tension in the area.

The district can heave a sigh of relief with the arrival of an additional batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses late Thursday.

A consignment of 2.5 lakh doses has been allocated for the Thiruvananthapuram region comprising Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, and Alappuzha districts. While the district is likely to get 30,000 doses initially, official sources said up to 65,000 doses could be expected.

Following a lull caused by an acute shortage of vaccine doses, the vaccination programme is set to be on track with the health authorities scheduling the drive across 108 centres in the district on Friday. Barring three hospitals that will provide Covaxin, all the others will administer Covishield. These include 47 public institutions and 58 private hospitals.

600 doses a day

Notably, the Jimmy George indoor stadium, which has functioned as a mega vaccination centre, will rejoin the drive three days after the programme was suspended there owing to the paucity of vaccine. However, spot registration will no longer be entertained there with the government insisting on online bookings. Moreover, the vaccination drive at the stadium could be restricted to around 600 doses a day to prevent crowding.

The venue has earlier seen around 1,800 people getting inoculated in a day.

On Thursday, General Hospital (GH) witnessed some disorder when a large number of people queued up hoping to get registered on the spot for the vaccine. Despite having waited outside the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination centre from 5.30 a.m., they were informed of the decision to restrict vaccines to online registrees only by 8.30 a.m This led to tension with many senior citizens venting their ire on healthcare workers. Soon, the police streamlined the crowd by sending off those who had not booked online.

A total of 2,931 vaccine doses were administered in the district on the day. Among those who received the vaccine, 1,704 were vaccinated with Covishield and 1,227 with Covaxin. Those who got the second doses include 712 front-line workers and 634 others who are aged above 45 years.