Govt to add 153 vaccination centres for 45-plus category
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has increased the number of vaccination centres for those aged 45 and above after receiving new supply assurances, but the administration may need to soon halt the drive for younger adults since no new stocks are expected for the 18-44 age group, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Atishi said.
Delhi on Monday added 153 vaccination centres for the category that includes health care workers, frontline workers, and those aged above 44, taking the number of centres to 623. Around 100 of these are in staterun schools, and allow walk-in jabs.
In a briefing on the vaccination drive on Tuesday, Atishi said the state government received 60,240 doses of Covaxin from its manufacturer Bharat Biotech for the 45+ age group, which should last two days. The state also has four days of Covishield stocks for the bracket.
A set of documents confirming the delivery schedule, seen by HT, show that the Capital is scheduled to receive another 98,890 doses of Covaxin and 283,970 doses of Covishield for the this age group between May 21 and 29.
These assurances of supply, senior officials said, have allowed the Delhi government to widen its drive to vaccinate older adults and increase the number of centres.
“We plan to further increase centres in the coming days if we receive more estimates on supplies,” said Atishi.
Doses for the 45-and-above category are offered for free by the Union government, while those for the 18-44 age group are purchased directly by the state governments. Due to limited supply and concerns over equitable access among states, the Union government has fixed a ratio in which stocks will be delivered under both categories.
Delhi government officials said they have not received any commitments for vaccines for the 18-44 beneficiary group despite several state government centres running out of Covaxin, and with just three days of Covishield stocks remaining, the government’s health bulletin said.
The numbers in the state government’s vaccination bulletin relate to concerns in just the state’s stocks. Central government-run centres vaccinate only the 45-and-above group, while private hospitals have their own stock.
“We hope that the central government makes vaccines available for the 18-44 beneficiary group the way it did for the 45-plus beneficiary group. Otherwise, we will be forced to close more centres,” said Atishi.
Government records showed that the number of Delhi government-run centres for the 18-44 population has dropped from 368 to 250 over the past week.
“To stop the pandemic, it is essential to vaccinate the younger population. Only around 700,000 people of this age group in Delhi have so far received the first dose of the vaccine,” Atishi said.
Overall, around 4.7 million doses of vaccines have been administered in Delhi – of which 1.7 million are second doses – since the inoculation drive was started. Electoral roll data shows that Delhi will need 30 million doses to vaccinate its roughly 15 million adult population.