Delhi to receive 550k doses in June: Dy CM
NEW DELHI: Amid an acute shortage of vaccines in the national capital, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asked the Centre to buy vaccines and distribute them to the states even as deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said Delhi will receive 550,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses for the 18-44 age group from the Centre next month.
Addressing a virtual news briefing on Saturday, the deputy CM also accused the central government of “sitting on” the vaccine distribution system and sought to know how private hospitals were getting vaccines while states were being told that
there are no stocks.
Against a requirement of 18 million doses to vaccinate 9.2 million people in the 18-44 age group in Delhi, Centre provided 450,000 doses in April and 367,000 doses in May, he said. “The Centre has informed us that a limited stock of 5.5 lakh doses will be provided in June, but not before June 10,” Sisodia said.
Sisodia told the virtual news briefing that vaccination centres for the 18-44 age group are shutting down due to lack of vaccines, and urged the Centre to share the data on doses provided to the states and the private sector.
Hours later, the chief minister said the national capital recorded around 900 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the chief minister stressed that if new infections continue to decline, more activities will be allowed to open up in the city. Kejriwal said the AAP government “just wants vaccines” for
Delhi and sought to know where is the politicisation in that.
The chief minister also said till Friday, there were 450 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus in Delhi government hospitals. On Saturday, he visited the Delhi government’s drivethrough Covid-19 vaccination centre at the Chhatrasal Stadium.
“..where is the politicisation in this? The people need vaccines, they (Centre) should tell where should we get the vaccines from. The central government has to procure the vaccines, after doing so they should give them to us and we will administer them to everyone,” he said.
Stating that this is “not the time for petty politics or to play the blame game”, he said vaccination is the only solution to this problem.
“This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is not the time for debate and counter. The country is suffering from a pandemic. The experience of the entire world shows that vaccination is the sole solution for this. “So they (Centre) should buy vaccines for the entire country and distribute them to the state governments. We will administer them. Why are they debating over this is beyond my understanding,” he said.
The process of lifting the lockdown gradually in the capital will begin from Monday, starting with resumption of construction activities and reopening of factories for a week, Kejriwal had announced on Friday.
The phase-wise unlocking process in Delhi will begin after over six weeks of lockdown enforced in view of the second wave of COVID-19.
Delhi recorded 956 cases on Saturday, the lowest since March 21, when the national capital had reported 823 cases.
Kejriwal also asked the traders to not rush and panic and assured them that when the situation will ease, everything will be opened up.
“I can understand the troubles of the traders and I can understand their anxiety. I read in the newspapers that they are a bit upset. I want to tell them that it was with great difficulty that we were able to control the situation by imposing a lockdown. “I can understand their difficulty but they should be patient and should not rush. We also want their markets and shops to open up and as and when the situation comes under control, we will open up everything,” he said.
Kejriwal said there are about 450 cases of black fungus, according to data till Friday.
“I have black fungus data till yesterday. There are two kinds – that of Delhi government and that of private hospitals and the central government hospitals on the other hand. “In the Delhi government hospitals, there are about 450 cases of black fungus. The central government hospitals are dealing directly with the Centre,” he told reporters. He said the Delhi government has demanded medicines.
“I understand that there is a countrywide paucity of medicines. The central government is giving whatever it can. As I understand, more injections of this medicine will be procured and will be distributed to all the state governments,” he added.