Healthy and young to get vaccine shot first
Delhi has nearly 300k workers– doctors, nurses, paramedics, safai karmacharis, security men —health care facilities who will get the first shot
NEW DELHI: Younger healthcare workers without comorbidities will be the first to receive the shots against the Covid-19 on January 16, when the nationwide roll-out of the inoculation drive begins, officials from Delhi involved in the process confirmed on Tuesday, requesting anonymity.
Those between 20 and 49 years without comorbidities have to be selected in the list of 100 beneficiaries for each of the 89 centres that will kick-start the vaccination drive in Delhi, according to a communication from the state team to the district administrations.
The districts have also been asked to focus on vaccinating safai karmacharis, ambulance staff, and ward boys along with doctors and nurses, the officials said. “This will help us monitor and better manage adverse reactions, if any. We have to put our best foot forward and instill confidence among people in the vaccines,” said a senior official from the South-west district.
A senior official from New Delhi district said: “As a matter of utmost precaution, we will be selecting young and healthy volunteers for the first few days of the vaccination drive.”
Senior North and West districts officials confirmed this.
“All districts are currently conducting a sort of internal dry run to see everything runs smooth on the COWIN platform on Saturday. The list of beneficiaries who will be vaccinated on that day will be finalised tomorrow,” said a senior official from Central district, refrying to the app that will facilitate the drive.
Delhi has nearly 300,000 health care workers– doctors, nurses, paramedics, safai karmacharis, security personnel, and administrative personnel in health care facilities – who will receive the vaccine first.
An estimated 600,000 frontline workers and 4.2 million people above the age of 50 will follow. The government is yet to prepare a list of those below 50 with comorbidities who will be eligible for the vaccine.
The Delhi government did not respond to queries.
So far, the city has received 264,000 doses of Covishield -Indian variation of Oxford/ Astrazeneca vaccine manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.
Dr Suneela Garg, professor of community medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College and a member of the state task force on Covid-19 vaccination, said: “The hospitals will focus on staff other than the doctors and nurses, with many ward boys and other staff receiving the shot on the first day. The beneficiary list is yet to be finalised, but the decision to select young and healthy people is in line with the Centre’s mandate that those with co-morbidities receive the vaccine a little later.”
She added: “The compliance is likely to be better among the younger people. Also, it is the young doctors, nurses and staff – those below the age of 50 – who have been working in the Covid-19 wards and it is important to protect them first.” She said a vaccination rate – those who actually get the vaccine among those identified as beneficiaries -- of 75% to 80% would be considered a success.
Dr Lalit Kant, former head of the department of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said: “The chances of any adverse event happening or the adverse event being dangerous is lower among the young and healthy people for vaccines in general. This could be the rationale behind selecting such beneficiaries early on.”