23 April,2021 05:18 AM IST | Mumbai | Hemal Ashar
A senior citizen being administered the jab at the centre
It was a shot in the arm, quite literally, for Worlikars as a vaccine centre opened at Worli village or Worli gaon on Thursday morning.
The jab is being given at the Koliwada Welfare Centre, which has a registration counter on the ground floor. Vaccines are being administered at the Municipal Dispensary Hall on the first floor. The Worli village is located at one end of the Worli Sea Face, near the entrance and exit of the Bandra Worli Sea Link. Corporator Hemangi Worlikar said, "We had plans for the centre roughly a month ago. This was so necessary as we have a substantial older demography in Worli village. Some of them, though I would not say all, were struggling to access centres in Worli, so this is literally at their doorstep now." Worlikar said the area has a medical team, and "we also have volunteers, community workers, everybody has come together to see that this project works. Yesterday, on the first day, we had 200 plus people taking the jab, so we are letting the numbers do the talking for us."
The corporator added, "As awareness spreads, we will see people from outside Worli village, residential colonies like Adarsh Nagar, the Prabhadevi area, arrive at this facility. Let us remember we are in a war against Corona. The vaccine is our weapon. It will help us immensely if we ever have a third wave too. What do you do when you have a weapon? You use it most effectively, and that is by making the vaccine much more accessible to all."
Worlikar said currently the stress is on getting most of the seniors and the 45 plus age group vaccinated, "especially important for those with comorbidities," and added, "As the 18 plus age group will be able to get the shot from May 1 onwards, we are gearing up for a bigger crowd." Most Worli locals reminded this reporter about how the area and especially the Worli village was in the headlines early last year as it was one of the first areas to be sealed because of the huge number of COVID-19 cases.
"It is good that the centre has come up even as we see a surge. A token system, where people come to the centre and are given a token, after which they are asked to come at a definite time slot, will help alleviate some crowding," said local Sharad Kohli. Bikes have always been part of the Worli village landscape, where they are seen parked outside typical old-world homes and against walls as well. In an area, which is a maze of narrow lanes and small gullies, bikes are the most effective way of commuting. Now too, it is the biker boys to the rescue, as these young men have offered to give seniors rides from their homes to the centre and back too.
Manish Pawar and Hemant Patil, two biker boys claimed that this was just a part of the community service. Pawar said, "It also incentivises going to the centre, because so many seniors find it difficult to negotiate these lanes and we also drop them home, so it is a time saver too." Patil said he had dropped his mother at the centre on his bike, and "if I can do that for my mother, I should be able to do the same for others too," he finished.
