3rd phase begins, over 5.1K senior citizens get shots, some have trouble booking slots

New Delhi/Noida: The COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities began in Delhi on Monday with many complaining of issues faced during online registration for the jabs.

While many people who queued up at the hospitals expressed "confidence", others said they were "nervous" while waiting to receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

In the third phase of the coronavirus vaccination drive, people aged 60 years and above and those in the age group 45-59 years and having comorbidities will receive the vaccine.

The third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive took off on Monday with the total vaccination scaling to 15,521. Exactly 5,176 people above 60 years of age were vaccinated with one Minor AEFI being reported of a 90-year-old woman.

Approximately 12,435 people received their first jab in the third phase with 5,176 people above 60 receiving their first dose. In the age group of people between 45-59 (with comorbidities), approximately 1,009 people received their first shot of the Covid vaccine. On Monday, 4,296 frontline workers were also vaccinated along with 1,954 healthcare workers. According to data by the Delhi government, 3,086 people had received their second shot of the vaccine.

At several places, people had started gathering at the facilities at 9 AM although booking for the first dose slot on the CO-WIN portal was scheduled to start at 12 noon on Monday. Officials had on Sunday said from Tuesday onwards, the booking will be open from 9 AM to 3 PM.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that people in the age group of 60 years are around 12 to 15 lakhs and that "people between the age of 45 and 59 years with comorbid conditions maybe around 2 to 3 lakhs."

The new category implies that people above the age of 60 years and between 45 to 59 years of age with 20 specified comorbid conditions can get themselves registered for the jab. He also said that 308 centres have been set-up in 192 hospitals for the 3rd phase of the vaccination drive.

"I am perfectly confident about the vaccine. After all, the PM also took it today. However, getting registered is a problem. I tried the CO-WIN portal at home but it was not working, and now the staff at the hospital is insisting that we need to be registered," said retired Air India employee Rajesh Kumar Chandhock (64) at Poornima Sethi Multi Speciality hospital at Kalkaji.

Dr Chhavi Gupta, media spokesperson of Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, said Covishield was being administered to the people.

"For registration, we asked for their Aadhaar card and contact number. We have 100 vaccines which have been divided into 50:50 ratio. The 50 vaccines will be given to the health and front line workers. The rest 50 will be for the senior citizens," she said.

The senior citizens were being enquired about any disease that they may have, including blood pressure and diabetes prior to getting vaccinated, she said.

The registered persons were being administered the first dose after which they were asked to wait for 30 minutes for observation.

Anita Sharma of age 65 at the Lok Nayak Hospital after getting the vaccination shot, seemed rather relaxed, "We have waited for a while and finally we are getting the vaccine. My son had registered me on the platform and I carried my Aadhaar to the centre, and after waiting for a while I got my shot. The process wasn't very tedious and I feel much safer now" she said.

Adding to her was Prakash Kumar, a retired government officer, " The hospital staff was quite prepared when we came in. Though we had to wait for some time, overall the procedure was quick and not too time-consuming. I do not feel any side effects right now and I request everyone to come out, register themselves and get vaccinated."

Meanwhile, Noida and Ghaziabad also saw the third phase beginning on Monday with some centres vaccinating more people than their target.