21K minors get 1st dose as N-E Delhi sees maximum turnout, Central the least

New Delhi: Amid rising cases of Covid and its variant Omicron, teenagers heaved a sigh of relief as the Delhi government administered the first dose of the vaccine to nearly 21,000 minors in the Capital between the ages of 15 and 17 years across 169 vaccination centres.

The national capital reported 4,099 new Covid cases on Monday, 28 per cent more than on Sunday, and one death due to the disease as the positivity rate rose to 6.46 per cent, according to data shared by the Health Department.

"This was long awaited. The third wave is already here and considering how aggressive the second wave was, we were all afraid," said Ritesh Ghosh, a 17-year-old student. Significantly, the AAP-led government has maintained that the safest way to reopen all educational institutes for physical classes is to wait for children to be vaccinated.

Reema Dutta, a 15-year-old girl said, "We can heave a sigh of relief and can go outdoors while following Covid protocols once we have received the vaccination. The Omicron wave is already scaring us."

Officials in the Delhi government said that till 6 pm on Monday, 20,998 minors had been administered their first dose of Covaxin (the only approved vaccine for minors yet) — with the most vaccinations recorded in the North-East District of the city at 3,687. The lowest turnout for minors till 6 pm was seen in the Central district at 739.

According to official figures, South-West Delhi saw over 2,600 kids take their first shots and both the New Delhi and East Delhi districts recorded over 2,000 vaccinations on Monday. The South, South-East and West districts saw 1,806, 1,705 and 1,956 children receive their first dose respectively. Moreover, Shahdara saw over 1,500 kids take their shots and in North Delhi, 1,394 children were given their first doses.

"Whenever schools reopened, I was hesitant to send my son to school because of Covid. It will be a relief now that he has received the vaccine," said Savita Devi, whose son was waiting to get the jab at a Delhi government school. Trisha Jain said she and her friends have registered on the COWIN portal and will be getting their jabs later this week but added that they should have got the vaccines earlier — especially since the third wave was "already here".

Speaking at the Assembly session on Monday, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that almost 100 per cent of the eligible population in Delhi had received the first dose and 75 per cent had received both doses. He added that there was no need to panic and urged everyone to follow protocol and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Gurugram also began the process of vaccinating its minors aged between 15-18 years on Monday. On the first day, 5,656 minors were vaccinated. As per regulations, all minors were administered with COVAXIN.

Along with online registrations, certain walk-ins were also encouraged by the officials.