The rush for Covid vaccinations, which had lessened a little after the Center expanded the interval between the two doses of Covishield, has multiplied twofold since thousands of patients who had to wait 84 days for the second injection are now clamouring for it.
At most private hospitals on Wednesday, people had to wait for two to three hours to get vaccinated because of long queues. Some hospitals said they had to turn away many prospective recipients because the infrastructure was not adequate to handle the sudden surge.
Many private vaccination centres are witnessing a huge jump in the turnout and most of the people queuing up are waiting for the second dose, officials said.
Bondel Gate resident Shyamaji Kumar Mishra had to wait for more than two hours on Wednesday at the same hospital for his second jab. “I had to wait for 45 minutes for the first dose. The crowd was much less then,” said Mishra.
Many had wondered whether the new norms were in line with international protocols or whether the announcement by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) was made in view of the nationwide shortage of Covid vaccine doses.
The Narendra Modi government has changed the gap between two doses of Covishield twice. First, the gap was mandated at four weeks. Then it was increased to six to eight weeks. On May 12, the gap was again increased to 12 to 16 weeks following a recommendation from a government panel.
At the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, around 800 people were being vaccinated daily for the past month. Over the last five days, the number has crossed thousand.
