Mumbai’s drive-in vaccination centre is witnessing chaos because of alleged mismanagement.
Aagam Maniar, a citizen, said that Cooper Hospital’s post and a list provided by BMC said walk-ins would be vaccinated. But they were denied the second dose.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s drive-in facility is functioning at the Kohinoor parking lot near Shivaji Park in Dadar West for specially abled people, those above the age of 45 and senior citizens.
The concept of drive-in vaccination, which gave hope to citizens, seems to have resulted in more problems than those exist at regular vaccination centres.
For senior citizens, standing in long queues for seven to eight hours is difficult. Poor management at vaccination centres has added to their woes.
Citizens are facing similar problems at the drive-in vaccination facility too.
A citizen, Mayur G, informed The Observer: “The drive-in vaccination centre has been set up for senior citizens as they can’t queue up for hours. But due to no clarity about the registration process, they have to wait for hours. Neither walk-in registration is allowed nor am I allowed to register through the Co-Win website. I tried to register through the website several times, but it always shows booked or NA.”
Also, he added, motorists have to pay Rs 60 an hour as parking charges. People who spend hours waiting for their turn have to pay a tidy sum to park their vehicles.
Their long wait at vaccination centres is resulting in traffic jams.
Rahool Thote, who lives near the drive-in vaccination centre, tweeted that there is chaos in the area. People with cars have caused traffic jams for hours. To get vaccinated, they had to wait for 3-4 hours, leading to inconvenience.
Several people say the facility is for the elite. The poor or those who do not own vehicles are excluded.
