SHAS­TRI BOODAN

El­der­ly and mid­dle-aged per­sons wish­ing to take the COVID-19 vac­cine had a hard time get­ting se­lect­ed at pub­lic health fa­cil­i­ties in Cen­tral Trinidad on Thurs­day June 10th.

Pen­sion­ers com­plained that the Health Cen­tres were us­ing a num­ber sys­tem and on­ly tak­ing around 100 per­sons a day.

78-year-old He­len He­len Cas­sano said she re­cent­ly had open heart surgery and was nev­er called to take the vac­cine.  Cas­sano, a res­i­dent of Carlsen Field, said the process was too much stress for her and she in­tend­ed to put a mat­tress in front of the gates of the Freeport Health Cen­tre and spend the night in or­der to get in the lines.

“When you What­sApp them, no­body an­swers. So, I have to put a mat­tress there to sleep in or­der to get up ear­ly to get a num­ber,” she said.

Oth­er el­der­ly per­sons walked with chairs, while oth­ers sat on ex­ist­ing in­fra­struc­ture such as wa­ter lines and con­crete cul­verts, un­til their num­ber was called.

 “I saw on the news peo­ple brought their own chairs yes­ter­day (Wednes­day) and this was a good idea, be­cause every­thing at the health cen­tre op­er­ates in a flip-flop fash­ion.  Rain or sun we have to wait here and suf­fer,” one woman who walked with a chair lament­ed.

At Cou­va, the line start­ed short­ly af­ter 5 am, and many per­sons com­plained that the el­der­ly were be­ing treat­ed with scant cour­tesy.

Doolarchan Gopaul, 67, said the process has been tough on him.

“I feel I might dead in this line if I catch COVID,” he said.  “I was here yes­ter­day, and I am here to­day again. This thing is ridicu­lous!”

“They tell you to come for the vac­cine be­cause you are old and when you here, you have to end up jostling for a num­ber. Look my feet pain­ing, I can't do this thing every day,” he com­plained.

At the UTT Cam­pus, se­nior cit­i­zens in Ch­agua­nas were be­ing al­lowed to en­ter and get their vac­ci­na­tions with­out any ap­point­ments. Those tak­ing the vac­cine at UTT said the process went smooth­ly.