East Godavari still faces acute shortage of vaccines

Kakinada: Even as Covid cases are increasing in the district, the acute shortage of vaccines is posing a big problem. At the vaccination centres, people wait in serpentine queues the second dose of vaccination and return home disappointed due to unavailability of the same.

According to officials, 77,000 doses of Covishield are required for meeting the required demand. In addition, more than 38,000 doses of Covaxin are need in the district. Owing to the shortage of vaccine, people are facing a lot of hardships. They said that a person has to wait four or five hours in the long queues to get vaccinated at Rajiv Gandhi Municipal High School, Ananda Bharathi in Kakinada.

At vaccination centres, hundreds of people are waiting in the long queues for hours together. The same situation is prevailing at Rangaraya Medical College (RMC) with people standing in long queues and returning without inoculation. People are pointing out that officials are most irresponsible and apathetic towards senior citizens. There is none to answer and display the information on the boards.

A resident, Bhamidipati Bhaskar Sharma said that the registration and issue of coupons is taking much time. There is no one to control the long queues as people are pushing and causing a riot-like scene at the centers. People became enraged when officials declared that vaccine was not available after a prolonged waiting in the queue line.

Citizens' Initiative secretary Duvvuri Subramanyam alleged that people with recommendation are given preference while common people are standing in the hot sun for hours together are ignored. He said that the officials have not provided drinking water.

People are demanding that they should be given priority in view of their coming from long distances. The most shocking thing is that people are not informed about the availability of vaccines despite their long standing for hours together.

A resident K Sampath pointed out that the information regarding non-availability of vaccine would save time and toil, if information is displayed on the boards at vaccination centers.

Even though the municipal officials are denying the availability of Covaxin, they openly displayed in the boxes at Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Wednesday.

The people are questioning how these Covaxin boxes are exhibited in the KMC which should be available at vaccination centres.

District Immunization Officer Dr Ch Bharata Lakshmi told 'The Hans India' that there is an acute shortage of vaccines in the district. She said that they have already informed the higher authorities for the immediate supply of the vaccine and the exact date of availability is not known.