1st jab through backdoor, 2nd shot an uphill task
Around 15,000 people who received the first dose of
Covid-19 vaccine without proper registration process, are now struggling to figure out how to get the second dose of the vaccine in the city.
Worried over catching
Covid-19, and finding themselves not included in the initial categories of those eligible to receive the vaccines, many people, who found ways to get their shots despite not being eligible as per the criteria laid down for getting vaccinated, are now facing hurdles in getting their second shot. These backdoor vaccine takers could not get registered and with no record of their first shot being taken, hopes of having the second shot now seem to be a tad difficult.
Covid-19 vaccination which began on March 1 in the state, was first opened for those above 60 years of age with comorbidities, then opened up for those between 45 and
59 years, and subsequently, on May 26, for everyone aged between 18 and 44 years.
But for those who got their shots ‘illegally’ with connivance of staff at government hospitals, primary health centres and other vaccination centres, it has now become an uphill task to get their second jab.
R.K. Rao, a 39-year-old businessman, took his first shot at ENT Hospital in Koti on March 1. “Through a known contact, I was able to get the vaccine shot at this hospital, I know I was breaking the queue, but I was scared since my business requires me to move around a lot and meet people every day.” “Now I am finding it difficult to get the vaccination for the second dose, as the first was not entered in the online database,” he added.
Harivana, (name changed), and his wife, along with his brother and sister-in-law, all under 40 years, got vaccinated at Government Health Centre at Vijayanagar Colony on May 10. “A friend of mine who works here helped us to get the jab unregistered. My brother and I work in a multinational company. Since we did not register for our first dose, we are worried we will never get our vaccinated certificate.”
M.S.N. Reddy, director in an IT firm, used his ‘influence’ to get the Jab on May 5 at the Government Hospital at Patancheru, before his age permitted him to get vaccinated. “The main tension is about the certificate. I was not enrolled and my vaccination details were not entered in the portal. I can manage to get the second dose but the certificate is the main concern as I travel frequently.”
While in some of the state-run vaccination centres, those who got their first jabs clandestinely are reported to be managing to get their second dose, after the health department somewhat relaxed the rules to allow the staff to enter details of the first jab on the pretext that the information was left out mistakenly, most people who got their first jabs through some known contact and the like, the going remains tough, it is learnt.