Wait ends, vaccination drive begins today
New Delhi: As healthcare workers in the Capital get ready to get their first Covid-19 vaccine shots, many in the city are nervous, excited, doubtful and even consider themselves lucky to be first in line, especially given the controversy around the approval granted to Bhart Biotech's Covaxin. But all have said that having an option between which vaccine to take would have been very helpful.
Some have even said that giving end beneficiaries a choice would have encouraged more people to sign up for the jab.
Millennium Post spoke to multiple healthcare workers who are scheduled to get their first dose of the vaccine from today onwards and all agreed that they would have liked to have a say in which vaccine they get.
Indumati Jamwal, the head of the nurses' union at Hindu Rao hospital here said, "Yes, the process of making, approving and testing the vaccine was done on a very short timeline. However, one thing that reassures me is that both vaccine manufacturers, Serum Institute of India (Covishield) and Bharat Biotech (Covaxin), are very reliable and established. Most vaccines currently being used in India are manufactured by them, including those in the immunisation schedule (for children).
"I would have preferred if I was given a choice between which vaccine I want for myself. Everyone has their own thought process and fears regarding the vaccine. I think if they were given a choice between the two, they would be more willing to get themselves vaccinated. Without a choice, people are likely to hesitate."
And amid this on Friday, the Delhi government also announced that it was diverting all doses of the Covaxin to 6 Centre-run hospitals in the vaccination centre list, while keeping Oxford's Covishield for the other 75 Delhi government and MCD vaccination centres.
Meanwhile, the vaccination drive here is set to start at the LNJP facility, where doctors, paramedics and sanitation staff will get their first dose in the presence of CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Medical Director Dr Suresh Kumar at LNJP, who is also overseeing the entire process on Saturday said that the staff is thrilled and happy to be part of the process and to be able to be given a vaccine after such struggle is nothing short of a boon for the healthcare workers.
"The Registration process has been completed. Those who receive the message today (Friday) will come for their vaccination at the reception where physical verification will be done," Dr. Kumar said while speaking to Millennium Post.
"After the vaccine shot is given the person will be kept under observation for 30 minutes. The entire process will be conducted by 20 staff and they themselves will receive the vaccine later," he added.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded 295 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, even as city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has slipped to an "all-time low" of 0.44 per cent.
This is also the twelfth time, the daily incidences count stood below the 500-mark in January, and the sixth consecutive day since January 10 when the figures have stood below the 400-mark.
Jain tweeted, "Lowest number of cases recorded since 9th of May 2020. Positivity rate in Delhi has been dropped to all time low of 0.44%.
Wear mask and follow social distancing to keep yourself and your family safe."
The infection tally in the city stood at over 6.31 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,732 with 10 new fatalities, they said.
On April 26, the city had recorded 293 cases, according to official data.
This month, 585 cases were reported on January 1 and 494 on January 2; 424 on January 3; 384 on January 4, and 442 on January 5; 654 on January 6; 486 on January 7 and 444 on January 8; 519 on January 9 and 399 on January 10; 306 on January 11 and 386 on January 12 and 357 on January 13 and 340 on January 14.
The active cases tally on Friday dropped to 2,795 from 2,937 the previous day, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.44 per cent. Jain had earlier said that the positivity rate had been below one per cent for the past
several days, indicating improvement in the pandemic situation here.
On December 29 and 30, the city had recorded 703 and 677 cases, respectively. On December, 31,574 cases were recorded.
These 295 new cases came out the 66,921 tests conducted the previous day, including 38,990 RT-PCR tests and 27,931 rapid antigen tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
The Delhi government has restored full strength of staff in its offices with improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the city, according to an order issued by the chairperson of the DDMA executive committee.
COVID-19 positivity rate has "significantly" declined in Delhi and it has been decided that all government offices, autonomous bodies, PSUs, corporations and local bodies may function to 100 per cent strength, the order issued by DDMA's chief secretary Vijay Dev said on Thursday.
