Plans afoot to open up vaccinations for general public by Apr third week
New Delhi: The Delhi government is planning to start COVID-19 vaccinations for those without comorbidities starting with people above 50 years of age by the third week of April, according to senior officials in the Central government and Delhi government working closely on the rollout in the Capital.
The city has so far administered a total of 9 lakh doses of both the Bharat Biotech Covaxin and Oxford-Astra-Zeneca's Serum Institute produced Covishield vaccine.
The Delhi government had planned to inoculate a total of 3 lakh healthcare workers, 6 lakh frontline workers and around 20 lakh people above the age of 60 years and between 45-59 years with comorbidities.
"The vaccination cannot be opened up to the general public or people who are 18 years old and above as there are a lot of rural populations that are yet to receive their first jab. Our primary focus is still the vulnerable age group," one senior official said.
The official added that the state government will have to plan out steps to amplify the vaccination drive and that just extension of drive till 9 pm will not be enough.
A health official from the Delhi Government also confirmed that the Capital will include members of the general public (those without comorbidities) starting with those above 50 by April 24.
"However, we first have to complete the existing groups before the vaccine is opened to the general population," the senior official added.
Despite efforts to increase the reach of the vaccination programme, Delhi has struggled to keep up with its targets for daily shots administered. While there were initial high points in the programme, hesitancy among the people has remained with many of those who turned up for their first dose choosing not to do so for their second shot.
On Friday, the Delhi government issued orders to increase the timing of vaccination at centres to operate until 9 pm starting from March 22. In tandem, the Delhi government also issued orders to all Delhi government hospitals, directing them to ensure that each of them has at least six Covid-19 vaccination sites so that each site can accommodate 200 doses every day. It added that any new site created to meet this target would need to be staffed with at least two vaccinators.
The Delhi government's Lok Nayak Hospital has five vaccination sites while the Rajiv Gandhi Superspeciality Hospital has four.
There are, at present, 550 vaccination sites in the city — in 208 hospitals and 40 dispensaries — in the city, according to the CoWIN portal. Of these, 325 are in government facilities and 225 in private ones. With the need to dramatically boost vaccination numbers, more dispensaries are also being roped in as vaccination centres from the next week.
At present, the vaccination programme is going on for healthcare workers, frontline workers, people above 60 years of age and those with comorbidities between 45 and 59.
