Got 4.5L doses, vaccination of 18+ to start on Monday, says CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: Inoculation of people in the 18-44 age group against COVID-19 will begin in Delhi from Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday, saying 4.5 lakh vaccine doses have been received by the city government.

The chief minister visited a vaccination centre at Saraswati Vihar for a "symbolic launch" of the nationwide drive to inoculate people aged 18 years and above against the viral disease.

"Vaccination for the citizens in the age group of 18-44 years will begin in Delhi from May 3. We have already received 4.5 lakh vaccines and are distributing those to all the districts," he said. Kejriwal urged people not to queue up outside the vaccination centres, saying walk-ins are not allowed yet.

"I appeal to everyone, vaccination is not walk-in yet, so please do not queue up at the centres. Everyone will be given appointments and should get their registration done online," he said. The vaccination drive will be geared up as soon as the national capital receives more consignments of the vaccines, the chief minister said.

"In one way, today is symbolic as the vaccination drive has started only at one centre from today onwards for those between 18-44 years. From May 3, the vaccination drive will begin on a large scale in Delhi," he said.

Kejriwal told a press briefing on Friday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has ordered 67 lakh doses each of Covishield and Covaxin, and said everyone in Delhi will be inoculated against COVID-19 in three months provided the vaccines are supplied in time.

Meanwhile, Delhi witnessed a low number of people from 18+ age groups as hospitals and clinics struggled with shortage of vaccines, as India enters the third stage of world's biggest inoculation drive amid an alarming surge in infections. Many hospitals said that they will not be able to vaccinate people above 18 due to the shortage, people above 45 were vaccinated. Hospitals like Batra had put up notices saying they won't be vaccinating people as there are none available. Meanwhile, Delhi's Aakash Healthcare Hospital took out a statement saying, "We have put on hold the COVID vaccination drive for aged 18+ years till further notice due to shortage of vaccines supply from the authorities. We will inform the people registered with us shortly for further process."

Only a few private centers in Delhi started coronavirus vaccine roll-out. The national capital has not received its vaccine supplies yet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday, urging people in the age group of 18-44 to not queue up outside vaccine centers for Covid shots.

Vaccination rollout for the age group started at one of the centres managed by Max Healthcare chain in south Delhi's Panchsheel this morning.

No on-site registration or walk-in facility is available, officials have insisted, asking people to register in advance.

Meanwhile, Apollo Hospital has said that it will start vaccine drive from Monday. Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is available for Rs 1,250 per dose while the Serum Institute of India's Covishield is available for Rs 800 per dose in private hospitals.

26-year-old Aarti Manchanda was got vaccinated on Saturday said that things went smoothly for her. "I took my first dose of covaxin and within half hour of the vaccination I started feeling heavy in my hand and this feeling remains even after 10 hours. Otherwise, I feel perfectly normal," she said,

adding that people above 45, who have already been vaccinated with dose 1, are priority as of now. "There was not enough turn out as feared," she said.

More than 45,353 beneficiaries in the national Capital were vaccinated against the coronavirus disease on Saturday.