CoWin sign-up is marred by snags, crash Lockdown till May 15
Karen Castelino, a young social entrepreneur, said, "Why did the government start registration for 18+ so early when vaccination centres are subsisting n minima stock? When you select Mumbai district to book a slot on the CoWIN app, it says there are no vaccination centres available for booking. Vaccination for those above 18 can wait for a while. The vaccination drive for medical and frontline workers, those above 60 and 45 years, should be completed first."
Meanwhile, the official handle of the Aarogya Setu clarified that there was a minor glitch at 4 pm which was fixed immediately. "Cowin Portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 PM that was fixed. 18 plus can register," it said with a screenshot of the website opening. It added that appointments will only be possible once the state governments and private vaccination centres schedule sessions. Some social media users said they could log in but could not find any nearby hospital offering vaccines to people above the age of 18 years. The old data of hospitals offering vaccination to people above the age of 45 years was on display. “#cowinregistration no slots available in Mumbai for below 45yrs age even till July and that's the maximum that one can scroll to... Is there anyone who was able to get a slot in Mumbai ?” @AnuragKharb. The BMC on Wednesday said it would set up vaccination centres in all wards so that all above 18 years of age can take their jabs in their respective ward and don’t create chaos at one centre. “We will be setting up around 227 vaccine centres across Mumbai, which means one in each Ward for all citizens in 18 years plus age categor y. Currently, there are 136 vaccine centres, of which 63 are civic and government-run vaccine centres, while 73 are private vaccine centres,” said BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. “Moreover centres in private hospitals would be increased to 100 plus private hospitals and they shall cater for vaccination to all citizens in the age categor y of 18 plus,” he added.
(With input by Ronald Rodrigues)
Stop the loot, blackmail: PIL
Similarly, Bharat Biotech would be selling Covaxin to the states for Rs 600 and for Rs 1200 to private hospitals. Notably, the distribution and pricing of the vaccine was initially controlled by the Union government. However, in a fresh decision, the Union, while allowing vaccination for ever y citizen above the age of 18 years from May 1, has lef t the costing of these vaccines to the pharmacy companies, which the PIL says is not a "reasonable decision."
"The pharma giants are milking the fear psychosis caused by the increase in fatalities," the plea reads. "In a situation where the entire countr y is gripped with the COVID-19 pandemic, price control by the government is a must and this kind of loot and blackmail should not be permitted," the PIL further states.
Khan has further questioned the move of the Union government in compelling states to compete in open market for the vaccines despite the fact that both the state and the Union governments have the constitutional obligation "to protect the health of ever y citizen without discrimination." "Experience shows that the BJP-led state governments would be supplied the vaccine by the Central government but non-BJP ruling states would not be supplied and they would be forced to purchase the vaccines at a higher rate," Khan has claimed in his PIL. The plea requested the HC to quash and set aside the prices declared by the SII for Covishield and by the Bharat Biotech for Covaxin. The plea is likely to be mentioned before a bench led by CJ Dipankar Datta on Thursday for an urgent hearing. "No one likes lockdown and I am already opposed to it. But health facilities are running out. If this situation persists, there will be a lot of confusion. It is necessar y to break the chain and for that extension of lockdown is essential. The administration can focus on curbing infection and reducing the COVID 19 cases,’’ said Bhujbal.