Gujarat kicks off coronavirus vaccine drive amid CoWIN app glitches

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel flagged off the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive amid technical glitches at certain places on Saturday.

Launched at par with the nation-wide kick off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat saw inoculation drive begin at 161 centres with nearly 16000 health workers being on the recipients' list for the first day of the drive.

For the first phase, the Gujarat health department has identified 440,000 healthcare workers such as doctors, nurses and paramedic personnel for inoculation.

However, the launch was not void of glitches. For instance, at Smt Sushilaben M Shah (SMS) Multi-Specialty Hospital in northern Ahmedabad, the 100-odd beneficiaries' list was not uploaded on the CoWIN app ahead of the launch, forcing the vaccinating staff to work through hard copies of the list.

 

On the other hand, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Hospital, beneficiaries did not receive any confirmation via text messages post inoculation even after the mandatory 30 minutes of observation. According to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)'s deputy municipal commissioner for health Dr. Om Prakash, with Saturday being the first day of the launch, the text confirmation were anticipated anytime during the day.

Mood among the recipients was mixed at different places. Those who took the vaccine shot were elated about being part of the initial phase of inoculation. With no major side effects being reported till early afternoon, the drive was largely smooth at multiple centres.

"By taking the vaccine, we want to assert that the general public needs to put its trust behind the vaccine makers as well as the government. These vaccines are not approved haphazardly and we have confidence in it as due diligence has been taken," said Dr Sundeep Malhan, one of the first Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Ahmedabad. Administered as an intra-muscular dose, Serum Institute's Covishield has been "allotted" to Gujarat by the Centre, said government sources.

 

"We have to trust our system. Having been in charge of plasma treatment for Covid at SVP, I trust the system. We should not panic and rather receive it voluntarily," said the hospital's pathology head Dr Cherry Shah, whose husband and daughter also took the vaccine at other places in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, there were also absenteeism at places like SMS Hospital where only 36 turned up as against the designated 100 vaccine recipients. On the other hand, turnout at SVP was decent with 30 health workers arriving for inoculation by noon, with 70 more to go by the end of the day.