The following is a post by Bhavisha Sharma, a fourth-year student at NALSAR University of Law, regarding her vaccination experience. It explains the vaccination process in India.
Sharing my vaccination experience for anyone who is looking to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
- It is essential to get yourself registered at COWIN website or Aarogya Setu app beforehand because even in those few states where vaccines are being offered for the 18-44 age group, appointments are very few in number and get booked almost instantly.
- Under45.in is a helpful website; if you click the link “Where are the Slots” after opening this (under45.in) link, you will see which state and district has offered slots for the 18-44 age group.
- In my experience (very limited though, just past two days), almost all states have a certain time windows when they update slots in their districts (for instance, for Rajasthan that is 7 PM – 10 PM or morning around 5 AM, approx.). Refresh the link mentioned in point 2 every few minutes to get a real-time update of slot updation.
- Be really quick in taking the slot once you see a slot is available in the link above-mentioned. Even a delay of a few second can cost you a slot. (Example – I saw that 91 slots opened in a Jaipur CVC, which were over within 3-4 mins since they opened.
- Once you get the slot, please please do make use of it. Data available in the newspaper showed how for 1 May, over 2500 people booked slots in Jaipur, but only 500 people took a shot. Please do not waste slots. If for some reason you are unable to make it that day, please cancel the slot. I am not sure about this, but it actually might open for someone else.
- Make sure you have taken all possible precautions before going to the vaccination centre because most of them are really crowded right now. Through my reading of multiple secondary sources, I realised that double-masking/ N95 Mask + Face-Shield + Gloves is ABSOLUTELY essential at this point to save yourselves from getting exposed to the virus in the process.
- When you reach the vaccination centre, make sure that you are standing in the right queue. Please do not cause overcrowding in an attempt to jump queues.
- Please social distance while standing in the queue. Even if others are not social distancing ask the persons before and after you to maintain distance. In Covid times, most people do comply. If anyone in your vicinity is not wearing their masks properly, please do politely ask them to rectify that. Given how fast the virus is spreading in the second wave, even someone else’s mistake can be costly to you.
- Please don’t refrain from getting vaccination merely because it is crowded. Just follow all precautions, and even request others in your vicinity to follow them, and get yourselves vaccinated. If any family member/ domestic servant/ employee/ relative/ family-friend etc. is 45+ and still not vaccinated, please please convince them to go for it. It is relatively very easy for that age group to get vaccinates because walk-ins are allowed and there is relatively less crowd at centres.
- If you can afford it – keep an eye out for private hospitals offering vaccination. While most have not started yet (in Jaipur at least), I contacted a few of them myself and got to know that they will start by next week. Please keep an eye out for those slots as vaccination there might be relatively expensive (1200 Rs for one shot of COVAXIN at Fortis Jaipur from 5/6 May is what I was preliminarily told, but these are not final details) and thus, might be slow to fill up.
Please get yourselves vaccinated, any shot being wasted right now is a collective national loss, which can be easily prevented if slots do not go empty and people do not miss their slots.
–Bhavisha Sharma, Batch of 2022, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
NOTE: Students from the NALSAR University of Law are requested to fill this form once you get vaccinated. This data helps the SBC and the university plan ahead for a possible reopening. The total number of vaccinated students is reflected on the home page as encouragement for the whole student body to get themselves vaccinated.
Picture Credits: DNA