Getting vaccine jab in lockdown

When I received an SMS that I have to take the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine yesterday, in the midst of a "strict lockdown", I was a bit apprehensive.

How will I go to the hospital? Will there be any problem? And most importantly, I need to get the "movement pass" -- these were the issues that kept bugging me. So, I decided to take one step at a time. First, I planned to get the pass.

Being a journalist, I did not require one. But since I was not stepping out of home for work, so I decided to get one to be safe.

I visited the Movement Pass website on Friday night, and registered using my phone number.

I added all the information it asked for: where am I going, what time and for what purpose? I also had to add my photo, which I did not have readily available. By the time I took a photo and tried to upload it, the session had already expired.

I redid the steps all over again. This time, it went smoothly. I was issued a card with a three-hour time limit.

Around 8am yesterday, I took all the precautionary measures one should, and stepped out of my Panthapath home.

I found an auto-rickshaw in front of Square Hospital. Before I could even ask him what fare he wanted, driver, Ujjal Sheikh, asked, "Do you have a pass?"

He then inquired if I had valid reasons to go out and if police stopped me, would I be able to explain.

Impressed by his awareness, I assured him that I got everything covered.

My destination was National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

We were stopped at Bijoy Sarani, but I was ready thanks to the grilling by my auto-rickshaw driver. I showed the police personnel my vaccine card and the pass, and was allowed to go.

There were not too that many vehicles on the road.

Once I reached the hospital, there were signs everywhere pointing to the conference room on the third floor for vaccination.

I showed my vaccine card and a volunteer told me to go in. I had to submit the card to another volunteer, who asked me to wait in front of table 4. Inside, it was somewhat chaotic as many -- especially the elderly -- came with their family members, which crowded up even the large room.

There were at least six tables in a row with two nurses each. One filled up the card while another administered the vaccine.

Soon it was my turn. A nurse gave me the shot and it was over just like that. She told me to wait in a room outside and they would return my card there.

The room was crowded too. I had to stand in a corner and wait. I remembered for the first dose of the vaccine, we were told what to do if there was any problem. But nothing of that sort happened this time. We just waited.

After 15 minutes, volunteers returned our cards. I got mine back -- which said I had both the shots -- and got out of the hospital.

Outside, it was quite busy. There were mostly rickshaws available.

Rickshaw-pullers were offering a ride-sharing options, which meant one can share the ride with another and split the fare. Some agreed and got on.

Finally I found a rickshaw, agreed to pay extra and started my journey back home.

I got stopped at the intersection near the planning ministry. There was a bottleneck due to the checking. Eventually, my turn came and I was allowed to go.

Soon, I was home -- vaccinated and feeling better that everything went fairly smoothly.