Shimla youth demand scaling up vaccination process for the 18-44 age category
Amid the ongoing Covid vaccination drives, youth in Himachal Pradesh have demanded scaling up inoculation process for those aged between 18-44 years.
A local resident, Rahul, who is a beneficiary in the of the 18-44 age category said that only 100 slots were open in the city for those in the category. "The slots are really less. People are not getting slots as only 100 slots are available at a centre per day. More centres be set up to vaccinate more people," he said.
Dr Vandana, a medical officer at a vaccination centre in Shimla, said that 100 vaccination slots open twice a week for people between the age group 18-44 years. "Five days were allotted to vaccinate the youth. Every Monday and Thursday, we open vaccination with a slot of 100 each day for people of the category 18-44 years. It has been four days since we started and we have vaccinated 400 people. On the fifth day, we will vaccinate 100 more, hopefully," she said "However, 100 is a less number. Since people face difficulties in getting a slot, thus, whoever gets the slot, shows up at the vaccination centre," Dr Vandana added.
Meanwhile, another young beneficiary, Yashwant Chauhan said people in the state are also facing other problems. Those belonging to the rural areas are not able to get themselves registered online, he said. "People like us, who are tech-savvy, are able to get themselves registered on the portal but not those people who are living in villages," he said. Chauhan urged the government to take an action on the matter to include the rural population in the vaccination drives. He also appealed to the youth to help people with registrations.
According to him, there is an acute shortage of Covid vaccines and the government must provide an adequate supply. As per official data released by the Union Health Ministry, Himachal Pradesh has 14940 active cases of Covid.
