Bengaluru: Elders trade words with health staff

BENGALURU: Tension prevailed at Dasappa hospital, Bengaluru, on Thursday as several elderly citizens took health officials to task for denying them a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Scores of elders over 60 years were waiting in front of the hospital to receive the second dose from 7.30am. Around 9am, health staff emerged and told them they do not have stock.A notice to that effect too was put up. Elders took exception and an argument ensued.
Many beneficiaries say it isn’t the first time they were being turned away; they have been visiting the hospital for the past two to four days. Vishalamma, a resident of SJ Park, said she received a message that she was due for her second dose and had visited for three days, only to be told to come back the next day.
Many beneficiaries said they travelled to the hospital only after getting messages on their mobile phones that their second dose was due. The situation threatened to get ugly when a staffer said they do not send these messages and beneficiaries will have to check every day if doses are available. Staff eventually convinced citizens that they would vaccinate them all on Friday.
Ramakrishna S, 68, said he has been taking a bus to reach Dasappa hospital every day for three days. “I took the first dose three months ago and the second is long overdue. If they can tell the exact date on which they will be able to provide the vaccine, I will come on that day. But we are being made to travel and wait for nothing,” he said. He said private hospitals are administering more vaccines, a clear sign that the government does not want to give the dose for free to the poor.
A senior health official admitted vaccine supply is a concern. With the focus shifting to vaccinating college students, many senior citizens are being deprived of the second dose. “Local health officials should plan the session to facilitate every age group. But health centres also need to get a decent number of doses to plan,” the official said.
A health official at KC General Hospital said they received only 200 doses on Thursday. In the first six days of July, 4.5 lakh doses were administered in BBMP limits, a majority by private hospitals.