Hanuman Kumar Sharma (23) of Sanosey village in Faizabad struggled for almost 50 minutes to get a Covid vaccination slot through the CoWin application on Sunday. Poor internet connectivity made it cumbersome and after umpteen tries, he decided to call it quits.
“Internet connectivity is so poor in the village that before I can login, the slots are filled or the portal says timeout. My parents were vaccinated almost a month back when the registration for 45-plus category was not mandatory, but I have been struggling for slots for myself and my 19-year-old sister,” Sharma told this reporter over phone.
The story is not different in Maidehi village of Basti where local residents struggled to get a slot for vaccination on Sunday when the registration in the CoWIN portal opened at 10 in the morning. RP Pandey, a sexagenarian, wanted to book a vaccination slot for his wife and himself, but his attempts proved to be futile.
“I failed to get the registration done. The connectivity is very poor here and the internet speed is pathetic. People in rural areas need to be vaccinated because the virus has infiltrated into the villages. But we are not able to get ourselves registered. It is really difficult. A lot of my friends haven’t been able to get a slot and are still waiting like me,” he said.
On the other hand, Abhinav Sharma (34) and his wife got the jab at a community health centre on the outskirts of Lucknow in Gosaiganj on April 15. “Initially, I did not know the procedure. Guided by my friend, I got the registration done with my second attempt, thanks to the high-speed internet connection I have at my home,” he said.
The digital divide in urban and rural UP is evident in case of getting registration for vaccination for those in the 18-44 age bracket. While in urban areas, people have been getting vaccinated at government hospitals, CHCs and PHCs without much hassle, getting a slot in rural pockets is like hitting a jackpot.
A para-medic posted at PHC Juggaur village said that villagers were making beelines enquiring whether they could get vaccines there. “All the gram sabhas have Jan Suvidha Kendras or Common Service Centres (CSC) which are equipped with high-speed internet facilities. But  due to lockdown, these centres are also closed, causing inconvenience to villagers. If these centres are made operational, the villagers can get themselves registered for vaccination in CHCs or PHCs. In the absence of villagers, people from cities are getting vaccine shots in the village health centres,” he said.
A UP government spokesman said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is aware of the problem and directions have been issued to make special provisions for inoculation of people living in rural areas on priority by facilitating walk-in registration.
“It will also reduce the load on CHCs and help in maintaining social distancing norms. During his visits to Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Mathura and Aligarh, the chief minister himself monitored the ground-level preparedness and took stock of the situation. Every villager will be vaccinated and no one will be left out,” the spokesman said.