KOLKATA: Off-site vaccination drives organized by different trade and industry associations and NGOs are facing a dose shortage in the aftermath of the fake vaccination camps. Some associations, though, are going ahead with the programmes while a few have put them on hold.
NGOs and housing societies are now planning to tie up with hospitals for vaccination.
President of Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) Sudesh Poddar said it has stopped vaccination drives for the past 10 days. “We were doing off-site vaccination for a few weeks with our own set-up on our own sites. Now we are waiting for procurement of vaccines from the state,” he said.
HRAEI has, so far, vaccinated over 6,000 workers from restaurants, hotels and bars. On the other hand, for NGOs, clubs and housing societies, all Covid vaccination drives are being routed through hospitals — both private and government.
“Currently, we are organizing a vaccination camp for fringe residents in the Sunderbans. But we have tied up with the state, which is providing the vaccines, doctors and nurses, and is also updating the database of recipients. We are only facilitating the drive,” said a volunteer of O2Ku Shawbar, a voluntary organization.
Multiple housing complexes where second-dose drives are underway are also tying up with hospitals.
“We will have a vaccination programme in our complex this weekend and have tied up with a private hospital. After the horror with fake camps, we believe in going through the right channel and depending on reliable hospitals,” said Deepak Agarwal, secretary of Diamond City West residents’ association.
Some associations, like Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA) and Indian Leather Product Association (ILPA), are going ahead with off-site camps. CWBTA president Sushil Poddar said it has permission from KMC for the drive. “We have undertaken 110 camps and 40,000 vaccinations so far. We are doing a lot of it for free,” he said. ILPA president J Gulati said it is organizing camps at Bantala leather complex. “We hope that from next week it will gather momentum as more vaccines arrive,” he said.
