The 80,000 square feet pandal constructed at the Central Stadium in the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram for the swearing-in ceremony of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on Thursday has now been turned into a COVID-19 vaccination centre.
With the closure of the mass vaccination centre at Jimmy George Stadium earlier this month, vaccination camps were conducted mostly through the hospitals in the city.
"We started the vaccination camp at the Central Stadium from Friday morning. It is mainly meant for those belonging to the prioritised categories in the 18 to 44 age group and with prior online registration. This will include frontline workers as well as those with various co-morbidities. On the first day, we expect to vaccinate 150 persons here. From Saturday, we hope to vaccinate 300 persons daily at this camp. The numbers are being limited since the vaccine stock is limited. We currently have only the stock purchased directly by the State government," District Medical Officer K.S. Shinu told The Hindu.
S.S. Lal, who contested as the Congress candidate in the Kazhakuttam Assembly constituency, had on Thursday made a public appeal that the massive pandal constructed at the stadium for the swearing-in ceremony should not be demolished and rather be re-purposed into a vaccination camp.
Ideal venue
The pandal, which is spacious and has good ventilation, would ideally serve as a venue for a mass vaccination camp, especially since the stadium is not being used for any sporting activity during the pandemic period, he had said.
The Kerala government seems to have heeded this positive suggestion, which came from the Opposition camp. The pandal has enough space to accommodate 5,000 persons.
The district health authorities wound up the mass vaccination camp at the Jimmy George Stadium on May 4 as the volunteers had been finding it hard to control the crowd, including those who had not registered online.
With hardly any vaccine stock being allocated by the Central government, the decentralised vaccination camps run by the city Corporation in various wards were also wound up. Now, vaccination is being done mainly through eight government hospitals in the city.
The lack of ample space for vehicle parking will be one of the issues for those trying to get vaccinated at the Central Stadium, which is located behind the Secretariat. The road around the stadium periphery is almost fully occupied by vehicles throughout the day.
