Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Longer wait upsets people
NAVI MUMBAI: With the change in schedule for the second dose of Covishield vaccine, there is a lot of confusion among the beneficiaries visiting the vaccination centres.
As per the new guidelines, they are not eligible for the second dose now.
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) started a new centre at Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium in Vashi on Thursday and the centre saw total confusion as beneficiaries demanded the second dose as per the previous guidelines of four to six weeks of taking the first dose.
According to the new guidelines, the second dose is available only between 84 days and 112 days. The centres have been guiding the beneficiaries by showing them the Cowin portal and how it worked.
“On Thursday, there were around 25 people in the centre who were demanding to get the second dose. What we did was that we asked them to choose a representative among them who would be taken inside and shown the Cowin portal, which does not accept the vaccination for the second dose before completing 84 days. Fortunately, they understood that we weren’t lying,” medical officer, Dr Ratnaprabha Chavan, said.
On Friday, the confusion was relatively less in the centres, she said. Wherever the beneficiaries seem to be not convinced about the time period of the vaccination, the officials showed them how the Cowin portal worked and that the vaccination cannot be given without the portal accepting the data.
“We make them understand that the certificate is generated by the portal and hence the portal needs to accept the data for the second dose to give the vaccine,” Chavan said.
Residents with travel plans have to either postpone or cancel them due to the sudden change in schedule. Ramla Beevi (63), who was in Navi Mumbai to stay with her daughter, had taken her first dose last month and the second
We make them understand that certificate is generated by the portal; the portal needs to accept the data for the second dose to give the vaccine.
DR RATNAPRABHA CHAVAN, medical officer
dose was due after May 18.
“I had booked my ticket to travel back to my hometown in Kerala after taking my second dose. The travel is scheduled for May 30. Now, the vaccination is due only in July. I wanted to travel after finishing both my doses as a precaution but now I am in a dilemma,” Beevi said.
Meanwhile, Vaibhav Poladia (49), a Nerul resident currently in Gujarat for work, had taken his first dose of Covishield on April 5. He has to travel abroad around the third week of June on a priority basis and is unable to get his second dose.
“If I travel without the second dose, which is risky, I would not be able to return to India for the next eight months, and my first dose goes waste. There is no clarity on these aspects from any of the officials. No helpdesk or helpline number is available to assist us. I have tried multiple centres in Gujarat as well as in Navi Mumbai, but am unable to get the second dose,” he said.
For people in Merchant Navy and other fields who have to travel abroad and would miss out on the second dose, NMMC is taking their numbers when approached. “We’ll try to find out if anything could be done for them from the government. If we get a solution, then we’ll contact them,” Chavan added.
“There is nothing that we can do. What we can do is consider it as an exception and approach the government for a solution,” NMMC commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, said.