Ahmedabad: The vaccination centre in Ahmedabad’s largest Covid treatment facility, the Civil Hospital, was deserted at 3 pm Tuesday afternoon. With over 800 vials of Covishield, one of the vaccines being used in India, in stock, the centre had only vaccinated about 100 people that day.
The same hospital had vaccinated more than 20,000 people in the first two months of vaccination drive.
The situation, though, is not specific to the Civil Hospital.
At Sola Civil Hospital, another government facility in Ahmedabad, the vaccination centre had no visitors post-lunch. Only three people, who had been vaccinated earlier, sat in the observation area.
“So far we have vaccinated only about 50 people today,” the nurse on duty told ThePrint. By the end of the day the number had gone up to 87, according to Rakesh Brahmbat, vaccination in charge at the hospital.
“The number of people coming in for vaccinations has gone down since the second Covid wave hit the country,” the nurse said, adding that the hospital had 200 vials of Covishield in stock.
It’s the same story of deserted vaccination centres across Ahmedabad, as the “fear of getting infected at hospitals”, kept residents away from these places.
According to the state state health bulletin, Gujarat reported 12,206 new Covid cases on 20 April and 121 deaths.
“The initial hesitancy to being vaccinated [because of the fear of side effects] is gone, but some people are now afraid of getting infected in hospitals where the vaccination centers have been set up,” said Brahmbat.
Although he feels the fear of infections from vaccination centres is more among those who are yet to get their first dose, that is not always the case.
At another vaccination centre in the city, at Ahmedabad’s SGVP Hospital, the nodal officer for vaccination echoed the words of the nurse at Sola hospital. “We have vaccinated 30 people today. The turnout has been low this month,” he said.
The scene in Ahmedabad is in stark contrast to what’s happening in the rest of the country, where the second Covid wave has resulted in a steep rise in the number of people seeking vaccination, often causing supplies to be exhausted.
According to data released by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the city administered 32,797 vaccination doses on 1 April. On 10 April, the number dipped to 26,822, and on 15 April, it fell further to 13,942. On 19 and 20 April, the city recorded 13,639 and 13,745 vaccinations, respectively.
ThePrint reached deputy commissioner health Om Praskash, over phone and text messages, for a comment on the vaccination numbers going down but received no response from him till the time of publishing this report.
Meanwhile, with the demands on the medical fraternity to tend to the rising number of Covid cases, there are also few hands to man the vaccination centres here. This may not be a problem now, because of few people coming in, but the dip in vaccination numbers in itself is worrying and needs to be addressed, feel experts.
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No vaccination, please
“We vaccinated over 20,000 people in the first two months since vaccinations started. Now, we barely get 100 people in a day. Most of those who are coming in now are healthcare workers and those coming in for their second dose,” Dr Tirth Patel, chief medical officer vaccination, Civil Hospital, told ThePrint.
As he spoke, five second-year medical students walked in for their second dose. “We were sent by our professor, since we are frontline workers,” said one of them.
Another person who had come in for her second shot was Ahmedabad resident Sakriben. “Most people are not coming because they are scared that they will get infected if they come here. I came because I am old and too many people in my society have tested positive. I prefer to be protected,” said the 66-year-old, who had come in with her husband.
A 54-year-old charted accountant who is due for his second dose told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, that though he has comorbidities, he was “not comfortable” visiting a vaccination centre.
“I have diabetes and a heart condition. With Covid cases spiralling in the country, I am not very comfortable with the idea of going to the vaccination centre now. I will wait for the number of cases to come down a little before going for my shots. Hospitals are becoming the hot beds of Covid infection.”
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No people, no vaccinators
Meanwhile, with the number of Covid cases spiralling in the city — 4,631 new Covid cases were reported on 20 April, according to the state health bulletin — there is also a shortage of manpower at the vaccination centres.
Most healthcare workers are busy in taking care of patients. “Only a skeletal staff has been put on duty at the vaccination centre here. The number of nurses required at the Covid wards has increased, so most of them are working there,” the nurse at Sola hospital told ThePrint.
Vaccinating the maximum number of people possible is, however, important and experts have suggestions on both how to address the fear of coming to hospitals for vaccination and the staff shortage.
“People’s fear of contracting Covid from vaccination centres is valid. In order to assuage it, why not start vaccination drives in large, airy spaces like public halls and NGO-run hospitals where people feel safe?” said director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, Dileep Mavlankar.
He also stressed on the need for authorities to give an informed push, addressing the need for vaccination.
“The authorities should also focus on getting patients with allergies and those with disabilities vaccinated. To do so you require special staff and proper facilities. Arranging that is not very difficult,” he said, adding that vaccination was a simple process of administering an intramuscular injection.
“The government can call for retired nurses and army doctors. The entire process needs more practical thinking and a wider reach. If a hospital has extra doses, it should be advertised and people should be called for vaccination” he said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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