New Delhi: With Delhi already scraping the barrel to find the required number of Covid-19 vaccines, the Delhi government on Sunday issued directions to all private hospitals and nursing homes in the city to make sure whatever Covaxin they have left or are acquiring for the 18-44 age group be reserved only to administer the second dose to those who are waiting for it.
With government vaccine centres for this age group already closed due to unavailable stocks, this order essentially means those in the 18-44 category will not be able to get Covaxin as their first dose till the Centre's replenishment arrives.
This decision comes on the back of the Delhi High Court's strong remarks that Delhi should have stopped administering Covaxin as the first dose the moment it realised that Bharat Biotech — the manufacturer — will not be able to honour its promise of supply.
Following this hearing, when the court noted that the entire purpose of mass vaccination would be defeated if the second dose of the vaccine cannot be administered within the stipulated incubation period.
The order issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority directed all relevant officials to strictly ensure that these directives are strictly enforced at all private hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi functioning as Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs). It added that anyone found flouting these rules will be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act.
And amid this shortage of vaccines, AAP MLA Atishi on Sunday said Delhi's youth are having to travel 100 km to get vaccinated as the city had run out of vaccines for the 18-44 age group two weeks ago. The Centre has said it will provide a fresh supply of vaccines for the said age group on June 10.
She requested the Union government during the daily vaccine bulletin to provide vaccines for the group as several people will soon be due for their second dose.
"It is becoming a serious issue as a lot of people in the 18-44 group are nearing their date for the second dose. We are also hearing reports that people are travelling 100-200 km to Meerut, Bulandshahr to get their shots because there are no vaccines in Delhi," Atishi said.
She added that when youth gets vaccinated in large numbers, the 45+ age group will also be encouraged to come out.
"Seeing the youth getting vaccinated will also reduce their hesitancy to vaccinate," she said.
On Saturday, a total of 57,990 doses were administered, including 42,742 first doses and 15,248 second doses. So far 56,51,226 doses have been administered in the city, including 12,84,000 people who have been fully vaccinated. For the 45+ age group, the city has a stock of 5,84,370 vaccines. After receiving a new stock on Friday evening, the national capital has 21,850 Covaxin doses for the 45+ age group while 5,62,520 doses of Covishield are available.