Vaccine drive picks up pace

New Delhi/Gurugram: The Covid-19 vaccination drive in Delhi picked up pace on Thursday, with over 5,900 healthcare workers taking the vaccine on day four of the vaccination drive. While the target for the day was to vaccinate 8,100 people, the Capital saw its highest turnout of over 73 per cent. On previous days, the turnout figures were struggling to get past the 50 per cent mark.

However, acknowledging people's hesitancy, Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that the vaccines were safe and that it would take some time to build confidence in the vaccines.

"On day four of the vaccination drive in Delhi, 5,942 people were administered the coronavirus vaccine. AEFI was reported in 24 persons," a senior official of the Delhi health department said.

The initial fall in the numbers came after one severe and 50 minor cases of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported following the vaccination drive on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Capital reported 227 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, arising out of over 81,000 tests conducted in the last 24 hours —

leaving a positivity rate of 0.28 per cent. While eight more deaths from the virus took the city's death toll to 10,782, active cases continue to decrease

and the number of patients in home isolation has now come down to 864.

While the numbers do suggest people building up the courage to get their shots, a telephonic survey conducted by economic think-tank NCAER showed that there was a 39 per cent hesitancy in the NCR to take the vaccine.

The survey is based on responses from 3,168 rural and urban households from the national capital region.

Significantly, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha inspected the coronavirus vaccination drive at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital at his constituency in Delhi on Thursday.

"COVID-19 vaccine is safe. Please do not fall for rumour-mongering," Chadha said in a statement.

Furthermore, Gurugram's vaccination drive also saw more people turning up for their shots, with 4,001 healthcare workers showing up for their vaccine shot, of which 12 cases of AEFI were reported.

Meanwhile, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has begun the process of arranging for COVID-19 testing for the participants in this year's Republic Day celebrations including ministers and their staff.