Getting Vaccine Slot In Pune More Difficult For People Than Booking 'Tatkal Ticket'

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Sumit Singh

Pune, 10th May 2021: Pune has been the worst affected district in the country since the pandemic has started. One way to prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID19) is to vaccinate people as soon as possible.

Though the government has announced vaccination for people in the age group of 18-44 years, there is a massive shortage of vaccines. In the Pune district, about 80,000 people were getting the vaccines, however, since May 1 about 7,000 people only are getting the vaccines. The officials from the administration blame the fewer vaccine doses being supplied.

People have been trying for hours with laptops and mobile phones to book a vaccine slot on Cowin.gov.in or Arogya Setu app. Many people are reminded of the railways Tatkal ticket booking. Within 2-3 minutes all the slots are getting booked.

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Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) released a list of 14 centres for the 18-44 years group for vaccination on March 10. The booking began at 8 pm on May 9 for centres in PMC areas and at 7.30 pm for centres in PCMC areas.

Anvita Srivastava from Wanowrie said, “I started to book a slot for myself as soon as the window got opened at 8 pm. When I started to book an appointment, it was showing 200 slots available at Sassoon hospital. However, the confirmation failed and even after trying it a couple of times, again the same thing happened. At around 8:05 pm, I could see no slots available. In just five minutes slots for all vaccination centres got filled. I don’t know if it is the error of the platform or not but it is weird that in just five minutes all the slots were booked.”

Pune: 111 Vaccination Centres For Above 45 Years, 6 Centres For 18-44 Years Group On May 10

PCMC Commissioner Rajesh Patil said that they do not have any control over the slot booking, it is designed and regulated by the Government of India. “We are also a user of the app, the state government has requested the central government to allow us to use a separate app”, he said.

Earlier people have been accused of mismanagement in slot booking. Many people from city areas are booking vaccine slots for centres in rural areas. “We are also surprised that people from Pune city are coming here for vaccination as they have booked slots online. However, many of them have to return empty handed as vaccines get over”, said a medical officer at a hospital in Junnar taluka.

PCMC: 59 Vaccination Centres For Above 45 Years, 8 Centres For 18-44 Years Group On Monday, May 10

BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole from Shivajinagar constituency said, “There is still no update on the dashboard that will share real-time info of vaccines received from the centre and their city-wise distribution. There has been absolutely no communication on partnerships, orders placed, or even negotiations with vaccine manufacturers. PMC is competent and with the support of industry has the capacity to buy its own vaccines.”