A shortage of vaccine doses and the resultant huge rush at the lone operational vaccination centre of the district, the Red Cross society building, caused a huge ruckus which ultimately led to the suspension of operations till further orders.

Social distancing norms were flouted at the vaccination centre since the early morning while the beneficiaries and Red Cross society members charged each other for the state of affairs.

Aggrieved over the suspension of the vaccination process, some residents sat on Dharna at the centre for some time accusing members of the Red Cross society of gross mismanagement.

The chaos began at the centre early in the morning at around 5 am when prospective beneficiaries started reaching much ahead of the scheduled vaccination at 10 am.

The situation however aggravated since around 8 am as a tussle broke out between a group who booked their slots through an online process and another standing in a long queue for onsite vaccination, for early vaccination.

Notably, as per conventional practice in the district, priority is given to those beneficiaries coming through online slot booking while half of the allotted vaccine is reserved for beneficiaries for onsite vaccination process.

As more than 500 people arrived at the centre despite only 180 allotted doses of Covaxin, the situation turned murkier at around 9.30 am with verbal exchanges between the two groups compelling police intervention at the centre to control the situation.

Though the members of the Red Cross society brought a large number of chairs to put things in order and announced that vaccination will begin only after everyone takes their respective seats, the continuous arrival of more beneficiaries compelled the authorities to finally suspend the vaccination till further orders.

One of the aggrieved people who arrived at the centre and had to return without getting vaccinated said, “I came here at the centre for a second dose of Covaxin after taking leave from office, but was surprised to witness the huge rush at centre and final suspension of vaccination process.”

“On one hand Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Health Minister are regularly appealing people to get vaccinated early to ensure the safety of oneself, their family members, community and society at large but on the other hand the common people are not getting vaccines despite standing in long queues for several hours,” said the beneficiary.

Dr Vikash Rana, District reproductive and child health officer (DRCHO) who is also the nodal officer of Covid vaccination said, “We have shortage of vaccination due to which only one centre was operational but huge rush at centre and lack of patience among prospective beneficiaries leading to messy situation compelled us to suspend the vaccination process.”

“We are expecting sufficient doses in a day or two after which all centers will be reopened with allotment of sufficient doses,” said Rana.