When vaccine comes home: Drive in Vasai-Virar to inoculate the needy holds hope for larger population

Swati Prakash Bedekar poses for her daughter after getting vaccinated on Thursday. Pics/Hanif Patel

An elderly resident of Diwanman, Vasai, had given up hope of getting inoculated against Covid-19 after several unsuccessful attempts at booking a slot online. Then the vaccine came to her doorstep, bringing a smile to her face. She was among several citizens vaccinated on Thursday by medics aboard mobile immunisation centres. These vans also reached tribal areas, where people were earlier apprehensive about the vaccines, but things are slowly turning.

Vijaya Shringare, 55, who suffers from severe back pain, gets her shot at Dongripada

I would stay awake till late on most nights to book a slot, but in vain. I'm 72 and wanted the vaccine at the earliest, but with continued unavailability of slots, I had lost all my hopes," said Swati Prakash Bedekar, the Diwanman resident.

Also Read: Mumbai: Vaccination drive for specially abled people gives shot of hope

‘It just took 10 minutes'

A man gets his shot in the mobile vaccination bus

"A couple of days ago, a civic official told me that I can get vaccinated without any hassle as a mobile vaccine bus was coming here on Thursday," she said. Both Bedekar and her daughter Nutan, 48, registered at the van and got their shots on Thursday. "The bus was parked within walking distance of our house. It took us hardly 10 minutes to get vaccinated," said Nutan.

‘Thankful to VVCMC staff'

Angela Francis Dcosta, 57, is specially abled and lives with her elder sister Santan at Vasai's Chulna village. Her nephew Michael Gonsalves said, "My aunt has been completely handicapped since birth. She can't walk and her IQ level is that of a two-year-old." Gonsalves, who is a supervisor at St. Xavier school in Vasai, said he requested the medical team of the van to vaccinate Angela aunt at home.

Angela Francis Dcosta, 57, a specially abled resident of Chulna village, gets her shot at home

"I am thankful to the VVCMC staff. It wasn't possible for us to wait in a queue to get her immunised." The mobile bus also reached the tribal belt in Vasai where civic officials had earlier held vaccination awareness campaigns. VVCMC assistant commissioner Manali Shinde said, "It was very hard to convince the tribals, as they initially believed that people were dying because of the vaccines. But now they know that vaccines are there to protect them."

Swati Prakash Bedekar with (left) daughter Nutan after getting their shots

Jabbed in the autorickshaw

The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) recently started the mobile vaccination drive. Vijaya Shringare, 55, has trouble walking and needs support of a waist belt to stand up. "All the vaccination centres I visited were overcrowded and had long queues. And I can't stand for more than a minute." On Thursday, Shringare only had to take an auto to the vaccination bus because of her severe back pain. "She could not enter the van, so we gave her the shot in the auto," Dr Mamata Patil, who was in the mobile vaccine van parked near Dongripada.

Beneficiaries wait for their turn outside the mobile vaccination centre at Vasai on Thursday

Tribals, once scared, get jabbed happily

Civic official Sanjay Patil, in-charge of the mobile vaccine van sent to the tribal belt, said, "A total of 20 tribals got vaccinated and that too happily." Gulab Ramji Rabad, 53, after getting the vaccines shot, told mid-day, "Earlier I was scared, but the municipal officials told us it was safe." Lata Hari Baraf, 45, said, "It was very easy to get vaccinated on the bus. We did not have to wait."

Girji Babu Sabre, 70, said, "I am too old to go out. I had been telling my relatives to get me vaccinated, but they discouraged me saying it was dangerous. But when civic officials came and told us it was safe, everyone was ready. I am happy that doctors have come to our village to vaccinate us."

"I am happy that the municipal corporation is taking an initiative to safeguard us," said another 70-year-old beneficiary, Somali Daji Vakvi. Arun Hari Bandve, 69, and his wife Anita, 62, thanked the doctors after getting vaccinated at their doorstep.

A nurse at the van, Neelam Subhash Thakeray, said, "The tribals happily came to get vaccinated. This mobile vaccine van is a fantastic initiative and people are liking it a lot. Most of them thanked us for bringing the vaccines to them."

"We have seen elderly people struggle to wait hours in the queue at vaccination centres. But mobile vaccine vans are very helpful, especially for handicapped people, senior citizens, cancer patients, etc," said Dr Patil.

‘Simple and convenient'

Varsha Kishore Shah, 58, said, "It was not possible for me to wait in a long queue under the scorching heat, so I did not even try to get the slot online for jab. But when I learnt that the VVCMC has started mobile vaccination drive in our area, I reached here. This is so simple and convenient." Ravikant Pandey, 56, came to the van at Dongripada in Diwanman with his wife Neelam. "I was not getting OTP. I tried twice and then stopped," said Pandey.