Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Long queues outside vax centres as drive resumes
THANE: Serpentine queues were noticed outside vaccination centres across Thane city when the vaccination drive resumed on Saturday. For the last four days, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) did not have any government vaccination drive due to vaccine shortage.
Sandeep Bhoir, a 30-year-old resident of Kalwa, visited the vaccination centre at Kharegaon at around 4am. He works in a hotel in Thane and as per the new rules, only 15 days after his second dose can he join work.
“I arrived early in the morning only to notice another 15 people ahead of me. Although the vaccination process starts only by noon, I did not wish to miss this opportunity. We cannot afford private vaccination centres and it was after so many days that the free government vaccination centre was made available to us. I need to earn money to pay the bills and feed my family, I have already received my token number, so will now take a nap till the vaccination process begins,” added Bhoir.
For many, it was a struggle to get vaccinated for more than a month, as most vaccination drives were suspended. On Friday evening, the TMC received around 22,000 vaccine doses.
“We release the number of vaccine doses available on the previous day on all social media platforms. Based on this, the beneficiaries can come to the vaccination centres,” said Dr Vipin Sharma, TMC chief.
“With various relaxations for those who have been fully vaccinated, many working in the private sector also need to get back to work. This is one of the reasons that I have come to get vaccinated. Due to the shortage of vaccines, I did not get vaccinated till now. But, if my workplace called me back to work, I need to be vaccinated. Before announcing such rules, the government should ensure that enough vaccines are provided so that people can benefit,” said Seema Kolhatkar, 47, Patlipada resident who was in the queue from 6am and got jabbed at 2pm.
Meanwhile, TMC has told all centres in the city to give priority to those from the city. “We have got complaints that people from far crowd at vax centres and Thane residents are unable to avail the facility,” said Vaijayanti Deogekar, health officer, TMC.