[MrBeast]

Got my first shot of Covaxin on 7th May. Since there were no centres available near my house, I searched other nearby districts and luckily found one in Rohini.
It was a government school and it was fairlyempty. The process was smooth and took me around 40 mins for the entire thing including 30 min observation.

Came home, had no side effects but had PCM as a precautionary measure. Everything was fine till evening after which I felt lethargic. Had food, had another PCM and slept. Woke up with slight pain in the arm but luckily no fever or body ache was observed. Had another PCM on day 2 before I went to sleep.

My father on the other hand got covishield in April and his second shot is due soon. He too faced no serious side effects and everything was fine with us.

[R2D2]

My wife and I were initially scheduled for our 1st (paid) jab on 12/4 but noticed a rush of about 150 people at the hospital. Didn't want to take a risk standing in crowds so we came back home. And within days the hospitals ran out of stocks.

Had to endure a long wait till 20/5 when I got a preconfigured alert and immediately proceeded to book an appointment. It worked and was scheduled at a municipal hospital about 2-3 km away on that very day. Went there at the appointed hour and found there was no rush. What a relief! We were done in just 15 minutes and post the mandatory 30 minute wait we were back home in about an hour.

The Covishield jab was free and I was incredibly pleased to see the efficiency on display at an institution that we Indians normally love to berate i.e. public hospitals/health centres. Every single employee there did his/her job politely, quickly and without fuss. The entire process was so smooth and streamlined that I couldn't believe what we had just experienced and where.

Wife and I had mild side effects:

a) Slight tenderness in the arm. I've experienced worse with an anti tetanus jab!

b) Feverishness (but no fever) for about 36 hours post the jab

Two tablets of 500 mg paracetamol/crocin 12 hours apart did the trick and we are back to normal <48 hours post dose 1.

Received SMS updates about our vaccination status and the next one is due in 84-112 days which is mid Aug to early Sept. We also received:

a) A link to rate the experience. And I was only too happy to share
b) An automated call from the MOHFW to reconfirm vaccinations
c) Follow up call from the centre to check on any side effects
d) Digital vaccination certificates on the COWIN site and app that were downloaded and printed for our records

[JMaruru]

I took my first shot of 'CoVaxin' on 20th April at Aster Clinic, JPN. The certificate shows am due for the second shot between 18th May - 1st June. I have been trying to book the second shot on 'CoWin' website BUT unable to get an appointment.

So, what happens in case am NOT able to book before 1st June? Will I be denied an appointment via 'CoWin' website? Also, how to get oneself into these telegram groups for info on time window for booking slots?

Please advise!

[logicalidiot]

A lot of organizations are now setting tie-ups with hospitals through their insurance companies to give out vaccines for their employees. In fact, in my organization, they have already started giving out vaccines in the Delhi/Mumbai region. Yet to get an invite with the details for Bangalore/Chennai region but they've confirmed that it is going to be done soon. Glad to see organizations coming forward to take care of it's employees!

[atnyia]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

My company has tied up with Manipal Hospitals.

My employer has also tied up with Manipal and I am scheduled for vaccination this week at the office campus.

Query to you and others who have taken this route: I have a calendar invite for vaccination at the office after making a booking. While I am registered at Cowin, I don't have a booking/SMS on the Cowin for the vaccination.

Will I face trouble with the police? I am already checking this with the logistics as well.

[akhil_007]

Originally Posted by atnyia

My employer has also tied up with Manipal and I am scheduled for vaccination this week at the office campus.

Query to you and others who have taken this route: I have a calendar invite for vaccination at the office after making a booking. While I am registered at Cowin, I don't have a booking/SMS on the Cowin for the vaccination.

Will I face trouble with the police? I am already checking this with the logistics as well.

Check the calendar invite/email. There would be a letter from Manipal on their letterhead mentioning about vaccine drive on the date for your organization (indicating date & location). Take a print out of this letter + calendar invite/email + your office ID card. That should suffice

[ketan007]

I got my first jab of Covaxin on May 7th.
Due to luck or whatever, I could book my slot on 7th May for 3-5 pm.
Now, I am in my hometown, a small town and the hospitals and medical care centers are just adequate, not so great.
I was expecting a 2-hour process; hence informed a friend to book his slot too so that we can chit-chat while waiting.
We reached the venue, which was a big hall. There were only 15 people in the hall. We straightaway went to the counter, and after giving aadhar details, we took our jabs in 5 minutes. We waited for almost 15 minutes while the medical workers told us dos/dont's for the next two days.
So, we went to the vaccine center at 3.15 pm and reached home at 4 pm.
I wasn't expecting such a pleasant experience in my home town as it's a tiny place. My parents also experienced the same.

[lsjey]

Context: Both my daughter and son are working from home in Chennai. They can be called up to start work from their office in Bangalore. Both are yet to be vaccinated.

Predicament: I don't want them to start work from office before getting fully vaccinated. So, which vaccine/option to choose:

1. Covishield: This is the most available vaccine now. However, one has to wait 3 - 4 months for the second dose and be fully vaccinated. If I choose this for my family then, they need to wait 3 months for the second dose and hence cannot start work from office before September. Also, the advantage is that, this is recognized internationally. So if one needs to travel, this seems to be the logical choice as of now. There is also news that a third dose may be required for all Covishield recipients.
2. Covaxin: Getting this is proving to be very difficult. The key is the only 25-day gap between doses. This means one can start work from the office as early as July.
3. Sputnik V: This is yet to become widely available. However, the gap between first dose and second is only 25 days or so.
4. There are people advocating a mix of vaccines for first dose and second. If this is viable, I don't know the gap between the doses.
5. We can wait for the single dose vaccines to arrive in India.

There is also a lot of news about the efficiency of these vaccines against variants. I request the doctors in this forum to share their views.

Mods: If you feel that this is an off-topic post, please move this post around.
Regards,
lsjey

[Sebring]

That's a thought. There was some research done on this mix of vaccines and adverse reactions noted. Is there any scientific data with you to suggest the benefit? (Besides hearsay)

Originally Posted by lsjey

There are people advocating a mix of vaccines for first dose and second. If this is viable, I don't know the gap between the doses

[lsjey]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Is there any scientific data with you to suggest the benefit? (Besides hearsay)

Here are some of the sources that claim benefits. That's the reason why I kept it as an option. Since I do not know the efficacy of these, I'm asking around for opinions from doctors in the forum.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01359-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7XFozyEZYk

https://www.news18.com/news/india/st...l-3770297.html

[sdp1975]

Has anyone from Bangalore been successful in Cowin booking of the 18-44 age group ? I've been trying for a week for my wife without any success. I'm 45+ and I've got vaccinated, but slots in 18-44 are just impossible to get. I've registered on the telegram group and have missed the booking by a whisker after reaching the captcha stage.

Since the govt in Karnataka has practically stopped vaccinating the 18-44 group, the only resource is the private hospitals, which have probably less than 1000 shots in a day. It looks like the shortage will continue. We'll probably wait for our employer's vaccination program - don't think getting a Cowin slot will work anytime soon.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Has anyone from Bangalore been successful in Cowin booking of the 18-44 age group ?

The joke on WhatsApp groups is that the wait to get to the age of 45 would be shorter than the wait to get vaccine in the 18+ category.

A few of our members have got it in this category. I have prepared myself for a long wait.

PS: In my case the joke may actually turn out to be correct.

[atnyia]

Originally Posted by lsjey

[*]Covishield: This is the most available vaccine now. However, one has to wait 3 - 4 months for the second dose and be fully vaccinated.

I would suggest going for the available vaccine, whichever is. Covidshied's first dose definitely helps in avoiding severe diseases. Plenty of people I know who only had a single dose had only mild cold-like symptoms only, despite in a higher age group and with comorbidities. Pretty much all of my friends and relatives went through infections in Delhi NCR.

I think that's low-hanging fruit and one should go for it, instead of waiting for a better vaccine and risking a severe infection. Avoid severe disease is what's on top of my mind.

[vaibzi]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Has anyone from Bangalore been successful in Cowin booking of the 18-44 age group ? I've been trying for a week for my wife without any success.

Hi, please try using UMANG app to book the slots. The app is sometimes buggy but it is the fastest way to book slots as it does not have any captcha.

I have been able to book multiple slots using the below methods:

1. Follow 'Bangalore Vaccine Updater' on twitter. The notifications are way faster than any of the telegram groups.
2. In the UMANG app, select beneficiary and keep 5600 typed in and as soon as a notification comes in, quickly input the complete pin and book the slot.

Slots usually open at the same time everyday, so be ready at these times logged in to the app. At every 15 min interval, login again.

Hope this helps!

[Ragul]

My last date for the 2nd dose Covaxin is the day after. I am tired of checking the cowin site daily for slots that are perpetually booked since three weeks now. Grapevine is that a lot of corruption is happening from bbmp due to which slots are not updated but walk-in candidates are vaccinated for a secret fee.

Since three weeks, I have had no other reaction but shake my head in the hopelessness of my predicament every time I have read a report of an 18+ person get his first shot of Covaxin. I hope a 2nd dose will be equally effective when taken 4 months later after August when the vax production is likely to ramp up.