Shuttling between two places to get the second jab for her parents

Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Nalinika Obeyesekere's firsthand experience of the 'good' and the 'bad' at two vaccination centres

There were sighs of relief as an announcement went forth that with the limited leftover AstraZeneca doses, the vital second jab will be given to those over-70 years old this week.

It was a mix of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ that the Sunday Times garnered from several people about the process. Here is one experience of well-known Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Nalinika Obeyesekere.

The SMS about the second jab for her 90- year- old father, Emeritus Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere and her 87-year-old m o t h e r, P ro f . R a n j i n i Obeyesekere came on Nalinika’s mobile phone.

They were elated, but there was a small problem. For the second jab, husband and wife had been assigned two different locations.

How would Nalinika manage? She could not be in two places with her aged parents around the same time. Her mother had been given 12.15 p.m. on July 1 at the Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium in Colombo 14 and her father 11.45 a. m. on the same day at the Mugalan Road centre in Kirulapone.

Calls and visits to several Medical Officer of Health (MOH) offices (“talked to everybody”) proved futile, with the only consolation being that Nalinika was advised to take one person early, which she did.

Nalinika took her mother bright and early at 8 a.m. to the Sugathadasa Stadium and as her mother was unable to stand for a long time, Nalinika joined the queue snaking along the main road.

“There were a few chairs, but all the feeble elderly were standing, some leaning against lampposts, others against ledges, etc.,” says Nalinika.

Then to add to their woes, around 9 a.m. rain “bucketed” down, leaving all and sundry soaking wet in about a minute. Some had umbrellas, most didn’t.

Suddenly the gate was opened and those in the queue were instructed to go into a dry pavilion with seating.

“Good enough, but it was a 50-metre dash and a pathetic sight to see – a free for all, some stumbling and some shuffling in an effort to get to shelter, with no help at all,” she says, while she shuttled back and forth giving a helping hand to some.

Then arose another problem – the order of the line was broken, no numbers had been issued and the policemen on duty had the “gall” to tell people that they should know their place and recognize who was before and after them in the earlier queue.

Some announcements were also being made softly at the frontend of the pavilion, which nobody, especially the elderly, could hear and when the crowd surged forward they were told in no uncertain terms “not politely but in a tone of irritation” by the officers manning the point, to go back.

Those who had come at 8 a.m. were still there, the time being about 10 a.m. and not a single jab had been administered. It was time for Nalinika to head home and take her father for his jab. Spotting an uncle, she had handed over her mother to him and left the Sugathadasa Stadium.

The chaos had continued after an announcement that anyone over- 70 from any area of Colombo 1 to 15, with or without an SMS, could get the jab and a bunch of people had thronged in, confounding the already-existing confusion. Her mother had finally got her vaccination around 11 a.m.

The more positive Mugalan Road experience

Like winning the lottery, when Nalinika took her father to the Mugalan Road centre, it had been “well-organized”.

Everything had gone smoothly and her father had been out within about 20 minutes.

But here again, those who had not got an SMS but been told to “come get the jab” faced a challenging time.

It had happened to an aunt of Nalinika’s in her late 70s who joined a long line, braving rain and shine, without a seat from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. An elderly man had felt ill and the staff had helped him inside.

“Overall though, the Mugalan Road centre staff didn’t do a bad job. The programme was well-managed and the staff was not rude or threatening. They also helped anyone with a debility who needed support to walk,” says Nalinika.

Two major contrasts, the Sugathadasa Stadium staff should take a lesson from the Mugalan Road centre, she points out.

Nalinika adds: “More importantly, why didn't the authorities, who knew that it would be the feeble and frail elderly seeking the jab, plan it better – shelter, seating and a bottle of water would have made a world of a difference.”