My sister and her husband live in India and queued for 5 hours for their jabs yesterday. This is her explanation of why:
"No appointments, first come first served. From day to day hospitals do not know how many vaccine doses they will be given from the central supply and people know that so we have to try to arrive early at the hospital to get our “number”. This morning, as also when we had our first dose, we had to wait patiently in the outdoor space of the hospital, socially distanced as much as possible. We arrived at 7am and already around thirty people were there, some having turned up at 6am. It was as comfortable as it could be, bearing in mind the limitations municipal hospitals have. I took a flask of tea and biscuits. Hospital staff arrived at 9am and vaccinations began at 10am. Only 70 doses were allocated today so a lot of people had to go away disappointed. At times it felt chaotic but it is difficult for hospital staff having to manage the expectations of so many people and having their own limitations. Anyway, by noon we had received our vaccinations and were home by 12.30. Ordered a celebratory pizza for lunch."
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