New Delhi: The Capital on Wednesday got its first drive-through vaccination centre, set up by the Aakash Healthcare Superspeciality Hospital along with the Delhi government and the SW DM's office and inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
But even as the drive-in centre, at Sector-14, Dwarka's Vegas Mall, administered around 70 shots on Wednesday and prepares to administer up to 250-300 doses every day, plans are afoot to start a mobile vaccination unit.
At the vaccination centre, there are two areas — one with an on-site booth where people can book their shots and the drive-in booth. At the on-site booth, around 157 doses were administered on Wednesday, many of them to underprivileged people from nearby areas for free. At the drive-in centre, 70 were administered.
The routine on-site will operate from 9 am to 9 pm and the drive-through vaccination facilities will be open from 9 am to 5 pm. People seeking inoculation at these centres will need to register on the CoWIN app and book the desired slot.
The fee for getting vaccinated at the facility inside the Vegas Mall is Rs 1,000 and
drive-through vaccination i.e., sitting in your own vehicle while being vaccinated, is priced at Rs 1,400.
Hospital authorities have said that the centre will also run a mobile vaccination unit called 'VaxiVan', to vaccinate people in the residential housing societies and the corporate offices.
"We have procured an additional 30,000 doses for the vaccination centres at Vegas Mall – drive-through vaccination. It is one of the safest ways to get vaccinated while maintaining social distance and other COVID protocols," said Dr Aashish Chaudhry, MD, Aakash Healthcare.
Meanwhile, the Capital's 400 centres for vaccinating those between 18 and 44 remained shut for the third day in a row for lack of vaccines.