Mumbai: CoWin sends seniors to Malad centre on no-vaccination day

A senior citizen returns from Balajee Hospital without getting a vaccine. Pic/Satej Shinde

Over 150 senior citizens were forced to return empty-handed from a Malad East vaccination centre on Sunday morning due to erroneous messages generated by the CoWin application. The elderly visitors had confirmed appointments, but were told that there was no vaccination scheduled for the day.

The confusion unfolded at Balajee Hospital after the staff were surprised to see vaccine-seekers on their premises.

Chetan Sanghvi, one of the beneficiaries, said, "We received a message after registering through the CoWin app. We reached before 9 am and but there wasn't anyone to give the vaccine. No officer was responding to our query. We waited at the hospital for almost two hours. More than 150 people reached the hospital for vaccination during that period."

Sources said citizens kept arriving at the hospital throughout the day. Another senior citizen who did not wish to be identified said they had secured the appointments through the app. "The hospital officials said the vaccination drive is not on today."

A hospital staffer said they could not log in to the CoWin portal. "We tried our best to contact the authorities. We have taken down their names. They will get a jab on Monday."

Civic officials said such problems are beyond their purview. "It was a glitch. The portal is centralised and no hospital can determine the schedule for vaccination of anyone," said a BMC official.