Vaccination has started at the sole centre in New Town on January 28. But the number of vaccinations is falling far short of the daily target of 200. Only 12 turned up on Wednesday.

“We had 63 on the first day, 57 on the second, 69 on third. The fourth day is the only time we crossed 100, with 109 vaccinations,” said nodal medical officer Archita Saha, who is in charge of the NKDA Covid Vaccination Centre in Action Area IID, near Tank 12.

Faced with low turn-out, the officials have also started making calls. “Sometimes we are getting the list late. Even then, we are trying to make as many calls as possible the day before.”

According to officials, Wednesday’s exceptionally low turn-out might be the result of miscommunication. “We thought there would be a break after Tuesday.” In most places, vaccination is happening on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. “But when we received the list rather late on Tuesday, we realised vaccination would happen on Wednesday too. And when we made some of the calls today, we found that many of the beneficiaries on the list had already taken the vaccine elsewhere. Also many healthcare workers might have been busy with administering polio vaccines today and did not come,” Saha said on Wednesday.

Ermila Bandalim Sohtun, a nurse residing in AB Block, New Town, was one of the 12 to have turned up in the last hour. “I was already on duty at my hospital (Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre) when I got the message at 9.30am this morning. So there was no way I could come before my shift ended.”

But she was happy that a vaccination centre had opened in New Town. “Had it been any place far off, it would have been difficult for us to reach,” she said.

New Town vaccine recipients were supposed to have got tagged with Rekjuani block primary health centre. “But we got our Covid safe house near Tank 12 ready almost overnight as a vaccination centre and applied to the health department,” NKDA chairman Debashis Sen said.

He clarified that only frontline health workers would be vaccinated in the first lot, as is the norm across the country. “The vaccination list is being drawn up by the health department,” he added.