Many doctors who have got vaccinated are reporting that they are getting “confusing” messages about another vaccination date. While they assume that it may be the date for the second vaccination, they say that it is too close to their first dose, leaving very little gap between the two doses.
A gap of 28 days is recommended between the first and second dose.
A doctor, who runs a private clinic in Bengaluru, who received her first dose of vaccination on February 5, said she got a message earlier this week asking to report to the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC). “It has been just two weeks after the first dose, but we received a message stating that our vaccination is scheduled and to report to the UPHC on Thursday. We did not go as we wanted to wait for two more weeks for the second dose,” she said. Another doctor, who works in a private clinic, said the same thing happened to him. “We were confused whether the message was for the first dose or second. After we got the first dose, it should have been registered in the COWIN app. We do not know why there is a confusion,” he said.
Prasanna H.M., president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), said this was happening to a majority of the doctors. “I got three messages from three different healthcare centres asking me to get vaccinated. There is perhaps duplication in the data entry or a glitch in the COWIN app,” he said.
Officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare stated that the doctors could ignore the message if they were already vaccinated or if the message came within 28 days of their first dose. “We will ensure that there is a gap of 28 days between the first and second dose,” the official added.
