Vaccinations start dipping as 4th wave overwhelms many hospitals

New Delhi: Vaccination data released by the Delhi Government shows that the number of citizens opting to get the jab has significantly declined in the past week or so, which coincides with a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases in the Capital and the beginning of religious festivals Navratri and Ramadan — both of which require devotees to fast.

On Monday, the Capital's vaccinations further dropped to 48,088 shots administered.

The highest vaccination numbers were recorded on April 11, with more than 1 lakh getting the shot across the city. The number of fresh COVID-19 cases that day was 10,774 — the first time in April that positive cases crossed into the ten-thousands range.

The day before, on April 10, more than 7,000 people had tested positive. Since then, the number of fresh COVID-19 cases has risen by several thousand every day, while vaccination figures have shown some decline albeit with fluctuations.

On April 12, there was a sharp fall with 74,397 people choosing to get vaccinated as per Delhi Government records. Since then, vaccination numbers have remained in the mid-60 to mid-70 thousand range, with the lowest number recorded on April 17, when the city saw 24,375 new COVID-19 cases.

While some vaccination centres across the city have said that the surge in Covid-19 had forced them to divert resources, others reported not much difference in the number of people showing up.

At Lady Hardinge Medical College and the associated Kalawati Saran Hospital too, doctors reported a decrease in the number of people coming in to get their preventive shot. "We still have vaccination going on but the daily numbers have definitely decreased in the past few days. About 100 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and much of the staff, including nurses, residents and paramedics, is being diverted to handle the Covid caseload", RDA president Dr Sunil Duchania said.

Similarly, at New Delhi Municipal Corporation's Charak Palika Hospital, Dr CK Bakshi, CMO coordination for Covid-19 activities in NDMC, said "There was robust vaccination going on earlier. For the past 10 days approximately we have seen a fall in the number of people coming to get themselves vaccinated. The decrease has been little more than moderate however I think it is too soon to comment on why this particular trend is occurring. Maybe after observing vaccination trends for another 10 days, one could offer an opinion".

At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) however, nursing staff said that vaccination numbers have remained more or less the same, there has not been a noticeable decrease in the last week.

Interestingly, at BJP-ruled North MCD run Hindu Rao Hospital, a senior doctor said, "Local BJP leaders bring several party workers with them to Hindu Rao to get vaccinated. If local leaders will visit the hospital to get vaccinated, their constituency residents are also likely to follow suit."

Vaccination numbers at Hindu Rao have remained the same throughout April with minor expected daily fluctuations. "The number has neither increased nor decreased. Maybe a minor dip was seen during the weekend lockdown because it affected people's mobility but otherwise there was no effect. At Hindu Rao, almost 50 per cent healthcare workers are Covid positive. Most of them have already been vaccinated," the senior doctor added.