R Padmanabhan would not countenance the idea of being jabbed in his living room, being keen on loosening up his 83-year-old legs in the outdoors. Following a knee surgery, he was fed up to the back teeth, in fact all the way to the staples bone, staying indoors and resting. His wife Geeta Padmanabhan narrates how he was out of the PHC in seconds — in fact, he was not allowed to step inside the facility. The couple reside at Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Main Road, Thiruvanmiyur..
Baskar Seshadri lives with a compulsion to share his experiences in the public domain with the speed of a data-transfer software. Sixty-three-old, this Mandaveli resident was in line for the booster shot, and received it at home. It pushed up his friends’ eyebrows, as he is known for going around the neighbourhood and gathering impressions in unfamiliar settings. For someone like that, a home jab looked tame. Baskar had an answer for them.
“Of course, it is not a big deal. I could have headed to the Mandaveli UPHC for the jab: It is ridiculously close to where I live. By having the jab at home and posting the fact on social media, I sincerely thought I was fulfilling a social obligation. It would help many seniors make up their mind about where they should get jabbed — I know it did. It helped some get over the initial diffidence about having a home jab organised. For some others, it cleared lingering doubts about the possibility of it. Sharing my experience, two people from the Mandaveli UPHC came in a scooter, and it was over in five minutes. Wouldn’t that be cool for the very elderly? All the government stakeholders, particularly the Greater Chennai Corporation, is doing excellent work — canvassing for vaccination and sending across communication via official sites and social networks. A camp at an apartment in Mandaveli, near Norton Street, two days ago was announced effectively through social media. Going by what I see in Zone 9 (Mylapore), apart from the mega vaccination camps and the primary health centres, jabs happen at malls, marriage halls, marketplaces and not to forget, the corporation ward offices.”