Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that his government can vaccinate the entire national capital in three months if he gets nearly 85 lakh doses a month. He said Delhi has enough vaccines to last only another 5-6 days. Appealing to the Centre to give the city adequate number of vaccines, Kejriwal said Delhi needs at least 2.6 crore more doses to vaccinate the entire population of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kejriwal said many people from NCR towns, such as Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Sonepat are coming to Delhi to get vaccinated. They appreciate the facilities provided but the biggest hurdle so far in vaccination is shortage of doses. On Thursday, 1.14 lakh people were given one shot of the vaccine in the city, according to the government\u2019s health bulletin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explaining Delhi\u2019s demand and timeline, Kejriwal said that out of an estimated population of 2 crore, 1 crore in Delhi fall in the 18-45 age bracket, while those over 45 and those under 18 comprise 50 lakh each. Earlier this week, the government had said the third wave of Covid is inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a press briefing, the Health Ministry said on Friday that India could dodge the third wave with strict measures in places. Arvind Kejriwal mentioned this and said as Delhi anticipate a third wave, it becomes all the more necessary to speed up the vaccine drive. Delhi is vaccinating people in the age group of 18-44 in about 100 schools for now. This figure will be increased to 300, he mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are 728 Delhi government school buildings in the city. Vaccination is free at these Centres, as it is in government hospitals. As per the new vaccine procurement policy of the Centre that is already in force, states, private hospitals and industries that can administer the vaccine, have been allowed to buy directly from the manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From May 1, the supply was divided into – 50 per cent for the Centre, and 50 per cent for the open market. The doses procured by states and private hospitals in the open market will be used to vaccinate those between the ages of 18 and 44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As per the policy, free vaccination is available at all vaccination Centres that receive doses from the Centre, and these will be used to vaccinate healthcare workers, frontline workers, and those above the age of 45.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several Delhi government ministers and MLAs, including the CM and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, have been visiting vaccination Centres over the past few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, Kejriwal said that the actual need for vaccines in Delhi might be higher as people from NCR towns were also getting vaccinated in Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n