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Limited doses, high turnout throw North Sumatran vaccine event into disarray
A vaccine drive held in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday ended in chaos as people jostled to enter the venue after waiting for hours.
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Residents crowd a makeshift vaccination center in Medan, North Sumatra, on Aug. 3, trying to get one of the limited vaccine doses available. (Antara/Fransisco Carolio)
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vaccine event held in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday ended in disarray as people jostled to enter the venue after waiting for hours for a jab.
The incident was allegedly sparked by rumors that the Medan Police, which organized the event, had already distributed all of the available vaccine doses for the day, while hundreds of people were still waiting for their turn to be vaccinated.
The crowd began scrambling to forcibly enter the sports facility, which had been converted into a vaccination center for the event, in an attempt to get a jab, disregarding organizers’ calls to maintain their distance from each other. Some participants reportedly passed out while being squeezed by the crowd.
Residents, many of whom had registered ahead of time for the vaccination event, expressed their frustration when they were told that the organizers had, in fact, exhausted their vaccine supply.
Tyas, a resident of Percut Sei Tuan district in the neighboring Deli Serdang regency, said she was disappointed to learn that the vaccine doses had run out. She was initially scheduled to get her dose at the Percut Sei Tuan Police Station, but the officers there instructed her to go to the makeshift vaccination center instead.
She blamed the organizers for failing to prioritize people who had signed up ahead of time for a vaccination.
“I did not receive the vaccine despite having been lined up for a long time, while many unregistered people reportedly got their vaccine,” Tyas said on Tuesday.
