What Use COWIN?

My tryst with obtaining the second dose of Covaxin ended a couple of days ago. The entire saga began as soon as the desired four week deadline expired. The horror of the fuel prices going dramatically upwards was quickly replaced with inability to get my booking done using the app. To add to the horror was the increase in price in private institutions - from ?500 to ?1250. The increase in price and the lockdown, multiplied the demand in the most crazy way imaginable and diligent citizens like us were left tapping on our mobile screens and entering OTP's to search for "free" or "paid" vaccination slot. To our chagrin, friends & neighbours went on expeditions across the city (during lockdown) and got their vaccination completed in an obscure hospital which never appeared on COWIN. The wife & me, were left wondering as to how can there be no system when there is a well defined system. Wouldn't it have been a simple exercise for COWIN to track that our vaccination was due and assign us to a nearby centre on a day & time slot of our choice? Not our system!

Many OTP's and many searches later the multiple attempts in the day started waning to a couple of sporadic ones. We heard about some relatives having 'cracked the code' - whatever that meant - to get an appointment, but whatever they did, it was not for us.

As part of our daily morning walks we started routing ourselves to pass the hospital gates of a renowned hospital and very casually enquiring with the security, who used to nod his head and say "Not today, Sir!". Slowly a friendship developed and one fine day, in utter sympathy he took down my phone number in his register. We continued our walking past and sharing a few words with first Giri & then his replacement Lalit. One fine day, we heard that the vaccine might come in the next few days. With a little prayer in our heart, we continued to deliver our good mornings to them.

Out of the blue at about 1130 hrs, I get a call which truecaller identifies as Lalit and he quickly whispers "Sir come soon, they are giving COVAXIN. Don't say a word, just go to the second floor". We dropped everything that we were doing, quickly cleared our calendar for the next three hours (the hospital is only 10 minutes driving time) and rushed post haste. With just a slight nod of the head to Lalit, we made our way to the main entrance. A lady stood guard and after checking our temperature, wanted to know the reason of our presence. "Vaccine" we said, in full enthusiasm of a parched throat finding water. "Who?" She asked. "What do you mean Who?" I responded. "Who referred?" she asked. "Lalit!" I said. "Who Lalit" she asked. "Your security guard" I said. Her face showed her flabbergasted expression and before she could say anything more, we moved on to the staircase and the second floor. Quite a few vaccine aspirants like us had started gathering and that is when we found out that the vaccine is being doled out only to family & friends of the hospital staff. We found a kind senior staffer and explained our predicament, we were referred by the (contracted) security staff at the gate and we are at the outer threshold level of the Covaxin second dose. That is when we learnt, that she was 'Kind'. Payment completed we soon joined the long line which had by then started forming. Line 1 Registration, Line 2 Verification and Line 3 Payment - they said and you need to go from one line to another before entering the room for your jab! "Fine, we said". We waited in the line as influential aspirant - family after family barged ahead, referred by senior doctors/staffers and who were able to get the hospital counter staff to oblige their out of turn requests. Sure, we protested. But it fell on deaf ears.....We were not influential enough. We were referred by Lalit, the security guy at the gate. 'Apna Time Aayega!', the wife said to me and we inched closer and closer to the desk and finally, our 'Apna Time', 'Aagaya!'

So what use COWIN?