Such is the rush for Covid vaccines that residents have started queuing up at hospitals from 2.30am. Such nasty arguments are breaking out over the procedure that the police have had to intervene on two occasions this week.

Early on Wednesday, at 2.55am, Karunamoyee resident Biswanath De went to get himself enrolled for a jab at Matri Sadan. Given that the EE Block stretch was deserted, he assumed he would be first in the queue but to his horror, De was handed a serial number beyond 180!

“I set an alarm to wake up and get here before 3am but I’m still late!” exclaimed De. He had come to the hospital twice before on different days but returned when he was being given serial numbers beyond 120. “Being after so many makes it certain that you won’t be vaccinated that day,” he said.

It turned out that the man in charge of noting the names — a Hari Prasad who till then was sleeping on a cycle-cart — had been noting down names from 9pm the night before instead of at daybreak. That is why De got a number beyond 180.

Chaos and confusion

Sanjib, Banerjee, a resident of Dum Dum, had come to Matri Sadan Hospital with his 83-year-old mother Anita, after registering on the CoWin portal for the 3pm to 4pm time slot. “One of my neighbours, who had got the jab from this centre, advised us to go early because of the rush. We reached in the first hour but after more than 10 hours of waiting they said they were out of stock!” said Sanjib.

Kuheli Banerjee, a resident of EE Block, had got her name down on the hospital’s register at 4am. “I went home and returned to join the queue at 6am. It was 3pm when I ultimately got the jab,” she said, exhausted but relieved.

Atin Dutta had gone to queue up at 3am but returned without getting enrolled when he realised he would get a number beyond 180. “If there are leftover names at the end of the day, why are they not being carried over to the next day? Why do we have to queue afresh,” demanded the EE-Block resident.

As patience wears thin, arguments are breaking out between officials and those in queue and on two occasions this week officers from Bidhannagar East police station had to be called in to diffuse tension at Matri Sadan.

A notice says vaccine would be administered on a first-come first-served basis. Pictures by Aniket Sil

All in the same boat

Other hospitals across the township are just as chaotic. At Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital, hopefuls are queuing up from 3.30am. They are themselves getting sheets of paper from home and writing down names of those in line, to be handed over to the staff when the service begins.

At AMRI Hospitals too, people are queuing up since 4am, with the crowd peaking at around 6am.

Under government facilities, the corporation has shut down 10 of its vaccination centres including the primary health care centre in Duttabad, due to erratic supply of vaccines. Only two centres are functional now — Matri Sadan and one at Narayanpur.

Shortage and surge

Hospital officials say they are at a loss handling the sudden surge in demand and fall in supply of vaccines.

“Earlier there were days when we administered less than 20 shots as people were not willing to step forward. Now they are panicking due to the surge in Covid cases coupled with the fear that there will be even more people in queue from May 1,” said a Matri Sadan official.

“Adding to our worries, we have extremely erratic supply of vaccines and are unable to predict how many people can get inoculated from beforehand,” said the official.

A Calcutta Heart Clinic official said they had switched to a first come first serve basis regardless of CoWin registration.

“We feel very bad about the situation and have even requested people not to turn up so early but they are panicked. We are trying not to turn anyone away but on most days we are run out of shots midway,” said Kishan Pradhan of the Calcutta Heart Clinic.

The rush is such at AMRI Hospitals that they have erected a temporary structure in front to provide some shade to those waiting. “We are giving out tokens to those in line, provided they are registered on CoWin,” said an official.

Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals on the other hand is taking no chances. “Despite CoWin registration, we are asking people to call our helplines and confirm their jab the day it is scheduled,” and official said.