Thread by @Bhairavi_Jani

The issue with #COVIDVaccination in rural India is as follows. Long thread 1/n @drharshvardhan @PMOIndia @ShekharGupta @horror06 @PramitWorld @govindethiraj @nebuer42 @suhasinih @calamur @Karma_Paljor

Took my 67 year old mother for her vaccination today. We live in a small village in the Munsyari block of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. So went online to register her and the system allocated a time today 6th March afternoon at the local PHC. 2/n

The online registration was smooth and a quick sms came to her phone confirming her appointment. But when we reached the local PHC - the person at registration desk said “sorry we can not give you vaccine today” 3/n

My mother, herself a retired doctors asked - why. She was told we can not open a 10 dose vial for one person. Leave your number behind we will call when more people are there. You should have come in the morning. 4/n

My mother asked to speak to the doctor on duty. She asked him “what if I get covid in next two days, will you or this centre take the responsibly of refusing me a vaccine when I was legally allowed to take it because the rest of it would be wasted?” 5/n

To which the registration desk person replied “well I just turned a 69 year old away saying the same thing “ my mother then asked, “if that is the case then why did you confirm an appointment - confirm them only in multiples of 10. “ 6/n

They had no answer. She then insisted that they call the other gent also and vaccinate both of them. Finally they relented and called him. And then requested me to call anyone else we may know who would want to get vaccinated. 7/n

So we called a few village ladies above 60. Most said they didn’t even know they could get vaccinated. Didn’t know how to get their papers. So we asked the PHC why don’t they work with panchayat and gram Pradhans. They said it wasn’t their job. 8/n

Since we were feeling mortified that doses may be wasted we also called my husband 55 yrs old with serious hypertension and cardiac issues to bring his latest reports done at a Bareilly hospital - 14 hrs drive from here. And registered him. 9/n

He reached the centre and doctor examined his reports and confirmed that he can be given the vaccine. The registration desk person then came in and said that he had called the DCCM as he was instructed to do so when a comorbidity case first comes. 10/n

The Gent explained to the doctor that my husband would have to go to Bareilly hospital - 14 hrs drive away & get a letter from the same doctor first. That letter will then need to be sent to District headquarters at Pithoragarh for approval & only then he can be vaccinated 11/n

I then asked whether we could get it on a whats app. They finally relented and said we can try. I shudder to think what someone in a rural area with no knowledge of systems, English or access to tech would have done had they been in our shoes 12/n

So I am asking some questions to the govt :
1. Why are you making people in rural areas travel for 3-4 hours only to send them back because you don’t have a system that has taken into account basic dosage volume. Your system should only assign in lots of ten. 13/n

2. Why do you have such pathetic processes that no one in rural india can follow. You do know that districts don’t have necessary healthcare infrastructure. Where will the poor citizen go? 14/n

3. Why can’t you at each centre post 4pm open up walk-In’s so that dosages don’t go waste. I presume you also have expiry on some of these. 15/n

4. Why should someone with comorbidity or disability have to be made to run around when the govt’s job is to make their vaccination easy and safe - and
5. How may doses have been wasted already? Because they have been bought with public money some accountability must come. 16/n

@PandaJay @vinay1011 @rajeev_mp @tsrawatbjp @narendramodi @AjayTamtaBJP

@vikramchandra @anup_malani @Raheelk @kiranshaw @nachiketmor @JayGalla

update: my mother just received a call from same registration person who said he was being asked whether she had been vaccinated or not. She asked me to call him. I called him & said “we have said she was vaccinated post her insistence, my husband still remains to be vaccinated.”