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

An elderly resident of Diwanman Vasai had given up hope of getting inoculated against Covid19 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 turningVijaya Shringare 55 who suffers from severe back pain gets her shot at DongripadaI would stay awake till late on most nights to book a slot but in vain Irsquom 72 and wanted the vaccine at the earliest but with continued unavailability of slots I had lost all my hopesrdquo said Swati Prakash Bedekar the Diwanman residentAlso Read Mumbai Vaccination drive for specially abled people gives shot of hopelsquoIt just took 10 minutesrsquoA man gets his shot in the mobile vaccination busldquoA 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 Thursdayrdquo she said Both Bedekar and her daughter Nutan 48 registered at the van and got their shots on Thursday ldquoThe bus was parked within walking distance of our house It took us hardly 10 minutes to get vaccinatedrdquo said NutanlsquoThankful to VVCMC staffrsquoAngela Francis Dcosta 57 is specially abled and lives with her elder sister Santan at Vasairsquos Chulna village Her nephew Michael Gonsalves said ldquoMy aunt has been completely handicapped since birth She canrsquot walk and her IQ level is that of a twoyearoldrdquo 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 homeAngela Francis Dcosta 57 a specially abled resident of Chulna village gets her shot at homeldquoI am thankful to the VVCMC staff It wasnrsquot possible for us to wait in a queue to get her immunisedrdquo 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 ldquoIt 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 themrdquoSwati Prakash Bedekar with left daughter Nutan after getting their shotsJabbed in the autorickshawThe 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 ldquoAll the vaccination centres I visited were overcrowded and had long queues And I canrsquot stand for more than a minuterdquo On Thursday Shringare only had to take an auto to the vaccination bus because of her severe back pain ldquoShe could not enter the van so we gave her the shot in the autordquo Dr Mamata Patil who was in the mobile vaccine van parked near DongripadaBeneficiaries wait for their turn outside the mobile vaccination centre at Vasai on ThursdayTribals once scared get jabbed happilyCivic official Sanjay Patil incharge of the mobile vaccine van sent to the tribal belt said ldquoA total of 20 tribals got vaccinated and that too happilyrdquo Gulab Ramji Rabad 53 after getting the vaccines shot told midday ldquoEarlier I was scared but the municipal officials told us it was saferdquo Lata Hari Baraf 45 said ldquoIt was very easy to get vaccinated on the bus We did not have to waitrdquoGirji Babu Sabre 70 said ldquoI 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 usrdquoldquoI am happy that the municipal corporation is taking an initiative to safeguard usrdquo said another 70yearold beneficiary Somali Daji Vakvi Arun Hari Bandve 69 and his wife Anita 62 thanked the doctors after getting vaccinated at their doorstepA nurse at the van Neelam Subhash Thakeray said ldquoThe 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 themrdquoldquoWe 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 etcrdquo said Dr PatillsquoSimple and convenientrsquoVarsha Kishore Shah 58 said ldquoIt 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 convenientrdquo Ravikant Pandey 56 came to the van at Dongripada in Diwanman with his wife Neelam ldquoI was not getting OTP I tried twice and then stoppedrdquo said Pandey