Tuesday, 25 May 2021 | PNS | Kotdwar
Even as the authorities encourage all eligible citizens to take the Covid vaccine, the youths are experiencing frustration as they state that slots for vaccination are getting booked online within seconds. They state that though registering is convenient, booking a slot for vaccination is a challenge for those in the 18-44 years age group.
A teacher, Jatin Aswal said, “There are never any updates or notifications on the availability of slots on the COWIN portal. I have been trying to book the slots from the first day. Now it’s been more than 10 days and whenever I check the portal slots are already booked. The slots get booked in just a few seconds.
Aman Rawat of Dehradun said, “There is no certain time to book the slots. Different people suggest different timings but even on those times I never found any slot for days and when I found one it was more than 100 kilometres away in Tyuni. How is someone supposed to travel so far for vaccination?”
Some said that one has to be lucky to find a slot because even after being on the website for long to find a slot there’s no surety that you’ll find one.“One day when luckily I found a slot as soon as I was going to hit the confirm button it got booked by someone else. I don’t think I will get a slot this month. This process is quite frustrating,” says Akansha Negi of Kotdwar.
Tanuja Bisht of Chamoli who is tired yet hopeful about booking her slot said, “I have to keep checking the portal several times a day and every time I am met with disappointment. I am distressed by this tedious process but also hopeful that soon I might find a slot so one must keep trying.”
A student Ruchika Shah who was able to book her slot with the help of her friend said, “We were three friends who have added each other as their beneficiaries so that if any one of us luckily found any vacant slot then the other one would get that too. We got our slot in the fifth attempt.”
