Delhi govt preparing to roll out vaccine for general public latest by 1st week of March
New Delhi: The Delhi government is preparing to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine registrations for the general public, starting with priority groups, from the end of this month or the first week of the next, for which the city's cold chain facilities will be increased, senior government officials aware of developments have said.
The city had 609 cold chain facilities initially, which was increased to 629 when frontline workers started getting their shots. The target is to have at least 1,000 cold chain facilities to cater to the general population and to open 300 vaccination centres by the end of the month.
"By the end of the month or first week of March latest, people above 50 and younger people with comorbidities will also be included in the list to get vaccinated. Simultaneously cold chains and vaccination centres will also be scaled up to meet the demand," a senior health official confirmed.
At present, there are 261 functional Covid-19 vaccination centres, of which 228 administer Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The remaining 33 administer Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
"People will not have a choice of the vaccine. This will depend on the centre in which they have been enrolled," the official added.
"Vaccination centres are going to increase too by
at least 2-3 times with 28 already being added," the health official added.
The registration of the general population will be done through the Co-WIN app and the Arogya Setu app in coordination with the respective DMs of the district in case people cannot register online.
Meanwhile, sources in the Union Health Ministry have said that the Centre is working out the nitty-gritty details of possibly involving the private sector to ensure faster inoculation of the population.
The private hospitals and their facilities are already being used even now but that is in coordination with the government but in the near future they will be given a free hand in the registration and vaccination process, according to one source.
"The Delhi Government is yet to receive the notification on private health care facilities. Private clinics will also play an important role once the vaccine is rolled out for the masses," the senior official added.
From next week, doctors in the city will play an even more crucial role – Giving a Certificate of Comorbidity – to the people so that they can be enrolled and receive the jab on the set date.
"We are working on the mechanism for it and how smooth the entire process can be made," another health official said.
Meanwhile, the vaccination drive for healthcare workers will continue parallel with the general population vaccination as only 50 per cent of the total registered beneficiaries have been vaccinated as of now with a large number yet to take their first shot, the senior health official said.
