The mega COVID-19 vaccination drive to give jabs to at least 37,000 people in 12 hours at one venue in Hyderabad passed off smoothly on Sunday. Organised by a corporate hospital, the event on the sprawling campus of a convention centre witnessed huge crowds and heavy traffic on the roads leading to it.
Telangana’s Director of Public Health Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao said that this is the largest vaccination drive in the world, conducted at one venue. The 37,000 beneficiaries were vaccinated by 7 p.m. Only Covaxin was given to the people at a cost of ₹ 1,400 including ₹ 140 for inoculation. Medicover Group of Hospitals in association with Cyberabad Police and The Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) held the drive from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., where three huge hangars at Hitex Exhibition Grounds, Madhapur, were used to accommodate 300 vaccination counters.
Executive Director of the hospitals, Hari Krishna said that around 45% of the 37,000 people who had registered until Saturday evening were young women. Dr Srinivasa and the hospital’s management stated that Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar planned the drive. While the drive was scheduled to start at 8 a.m., it had to be rolled out an hour earlier since people started to come from 6 a.m. to the venue. Bumper-to-bumper traffic was witnessed from Shilparamam to the parking space of Hitex exhibition grounds. However, the situation eased by afternoon. While getting through the traffic was a challenge, beneficiaries of the vaccine said that they received the vaccine within 5 minutes of stepping into the hangar. One of the beneficiaries, M Charan said that he received the vaccine in less than five minutes. People were assigned one-hour time slots, which distributed the beneficiaries’ load over the 13 hours of scheduled time.
Safety measures
The main concern was safety since thousands were set to reach the venue. While there was constant flow of hundreds of people into the three hangars, gatherings of large number of people were not witnessed except in the post-vaccination area where chairs were placed maintaining physical distance. Mr Hari Krishna said that the entire procedure after a person steps out of the vehicle was contact-free procedure except when the nurse gives the jab.
Each hangar had 100 counters, an emergency medical attention room, doctors, nurses. So a total of 300 counters were put in place which helped in clearing the crowd. Upon reaching the venue, volunteers from the SCSC and a few colleges directed the beneficiaries to the hangars. At the entrance of the hangars, people scanned QR code on the vaccination pass. After stepping into a hangar, they were directed to rows of counters where people were given the jab.
“The process was smooth. If such drives are replicated in four corners of the city, it would be of help to people as they don’t have to travel long distances. Elderly people cannot sit in any vehicle for a long time,” said Rajashekar Reddy (30), who drove for one-and-half-hours from Ghatkesar to Madhapur to get the vaccine.
