Covid-19 vaccination drive 2.0 in pictures: Enthusiasm, glitches, and more

India continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 13th among worst-hit nations by active cases

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday set the ball rolling for the second phase of vaccination with an early-morning jab of Covaxin at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Modi, who wore the Assamese Gamosa, a red and white long scarf, was administered the shot by nurse P Niveda from Puducherry, assisted by the second nurse Rosamma Ali from Kerala. Modi’s inoculation with Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which has courted controversy, will likely build public confidence in the vaccine and counter hesitancy.

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By 7 pm, over 2.5 million citizens had registered on the CoWIN portal, of which 2.4 million were citizen beneficiaries and remaining healthcare and frontline workers.

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The first day of vaccination for senior citizens and those aged over 45 with comorbidities got off to a slow start, with beneficiaries reporting glitches in the CoWIN platform. Hospitals, too, complained that there were issues with the software that made uploading data extremely slow.

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Beneficiaries have an option between pre-booking slots on the app and walk-in registration. However, in Bengaluru, there will be no walk-ins for the first week; in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal, walk-in registrations have been allowed.

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More than 128,000 beneficiaries over 60 years of age got the shot on Monday. Dilip Jose, MD and CEO of Manipal Hospitals, said the enthusiasm was very high and a lot of people reached out to enquire how they could get registered. At Manipal’s flagship hospital in Bengaluru, the first dose was administered to a 97-year-old man.

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At the Covid centre in BKC, Mumbai, long queues greeted beneficiaries, with vaccination for both senior citizens and frontline workers taking place at the same time. There were no separate lines, adding to the inconvenience. ” As crowds swelled in the afternoon, the wait time increased to 30-60 minutes.

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The halls were nearly empty and the number of people seated in the vaccination waiting area sparse at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to get the Covaxin jab. In stark contrast, a line of makeshift canopies was erected in the backyard of Max Smart Super Specialty hospital in Delhi as senior citizens started pouring in from 9 am as soon as the Co-WIN registrations went live.

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Lack of exact time slots on the CoWIN portal meant beneficiaries ended up crowding outside many vaccination centres.

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Maharashtra health department along with the Mumbai civic body are holding meetings with hospitals to gauge their infrastructure and willingness. The enrollments will be done accordingly.

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The health ministry has clarified that states have been given some relaxation. “In the next few days, the walk-in system will be streamlined, a provision is in place for this. A certain number of people can go to the centre after taking an appointment,” Harsh Vardhan said.

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As more vaccination centres get added and glitches are resolved, states expect an increase in vaccination. Even as the upgraded Co-WIN was launched, technical glitches continued and many places got off to a late start. At the BKC Covid centre, officials had to register details regarding allotment before administering doses and were unable to complete the process. While on-spot registrations began after 9 am, actual vaccination began only after 11 am. At Bengaluru, too, vaccination was to start at noon but could not be rolled out before 2pm.

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Whether it’s the government hospital in Chandigarh or AMRI Hospitals in South Kolkata, the scene was buzzing with people walking in to get the Covid shot. Pradeep Angre, dean of the Mulund facility, said the turnout was more encouraging in this round. "On most days, we were administering doses to 30-40 healthcare or frontline workers. Today, already over 50 senior citizens have been given the jab and more are waiting."

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The dean at the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, Chennai, said that in the first one hour, over a 100 people had registered. The only dampener was the technical glitches on the Co-WIN app and confusion over walk-in. “The response has been huge. Many senior citizens turned up, but not all had registered, and some did not have proper documentation,” said Rupak Barua, director and group CEO, AMRI Hospitals.

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Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals, said she expected the process to smooth out in 2-3 weeks. Reddy has also asked the government to extend the hours for vaccination from eight to 12-14.