Seven Covid vaccination centres in Calcutta, five of them run by the civic body, have started accepting bookings for inoculation of anyone who is 18 or older, officials said on Monday.
The other Calcutta Municipal Corporation-run centres are vaccinating only priority groups in the 18-44 category and everyone above 45.
The seven centres that will administer the jab to all in the 18-44 segment are alloting slots through the WhatsApp chatbot launched by the CMC and the health department.
The CMC-run centres among the seven are at St Xavier’s College on Park Street, Bidhan Sishu Udyan in Ultadanga, Roxy cinema in Esplanade, South City International School on Prince Anwar Shah Road and Quest Mall on Syed Amir Ali Avenue.
The other two centres, at SSKM Hospital and Sambhunath Pandit Hospital, are managed by the health department.
“We will offer vaccines to everyone who is 18 or older and those who will turn 18 this year at seven centres in Calcutta. The bookings will be through the WhatsApp chatbot. There will be no restriction - even those who do not belong to any priority group in the 18-44 segment can book a slot,” said an official of the state e-governance mission team that has designed and is managing the chatbot.
“These centres will administer vaccines only to those who have booked appointments through the WhatsApp chatbot.”
To initiate the process of booking a slot through the chatbot, one has to type “Hi” and WhatsApp it to 8335999000.
The official said all slots except the ones at Quest Mall were booked till Saturday. “We have plans to open bookings for next week on Saturday or Sunday at 10am,” the official said.
The number of people each site will vaccinate will depend on the availability of doses.
Usually, Quest Mall has 100 slots, Roxy cinema 400 slots, St Xavier’s College 200 slots, South City International School 800 slots, Bidhan Sishu Udyan 400 slots and SSKM and Sambhunath Pandit Hospitals have 500 slots each daily.
The seven centres stand out because all other state government hospitals and the Covid vaccination centres run by the CMC are vaccinating only the priority groups in the 18-44 segment. There is no restriction on those who are 45 or older.
Vegetable and fish sellers, drivers and conductors of buses and domestic help are among those who belong to priority groups.
“We are not able to open vaccination to everyone who is 18 or above because there is not enough supply of doses,” Firhad Hakim, the chairperson of the CMC’s board of administrators, had said on Monday evening.
