Now, a Covid-19 vax centre inside Tihar

New Delhi: With Delhi's prisons set to see a fresh influx of inmates as those released on interim bail and emergency parole last year return, the Delhi Prisons Department has now set up a COVID-19 vaccination centre inside Tihar Jail to vaccinate eligible inmates, officials said on Sunday.

A total of 326 inmates in Delhi's prisons are above 60 years, and over 300 are in the 45-59 age bracket with comorbidities. These two categories are eligible for vaccination in the ongoing nationwide drive. The Centre has opened up vaccinations for those above 45 without comorbidities from April 1 onwards.

The vaccination centre was set up on Tuesday in the central jail hospital at jail number 3, they said. According to jail officials, around 70 to 80 inmates of Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli jails have been vaccinated so far.

Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said, if needed, a vaccination centre will be opened at Mandoli Jail too.

"Our teams from the central jail hospital in jail number 3 will visit the inmates at Rohini and Mandoli Jails to vaccinate them starting next week," Goel said.

Earlier, Tihar Jail inmates were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for the vaccination. The vaccination drive for prison inmates started on March 18 and 13 inmates got the COVID-19 jab on day one.

According to a senior jail official, family members of inmates eligible for getting vaccinated were asked to send the required documents through WhatsApp messaging app.

None of the inmates who have received the jab reported any complications, the official said.

However, the officials said there are several inmates who do not have the required documents for the vaccination process due to which they were not selected for the shot. "We are trying to figure out how they will be vaccinated," another official said.

Significantly, over 4,000 inmates are set to surrender to the prisons in the coming days amid a fresh spike in cases. While these inmates are being screened and tested, two of the recent returnees were found positive for the virus and taken to a nearby hospital under police guard.