One-third of Delhi cops above 50 yrs to get shots first

NEW DELHI: At least one-third of the Delhi Police personnel are above 50 years of age and will be first ones to get the vaccine in the second phase of the vaccination drive, senior officers said. While updating its internal database for the drive, the Delhi Police headquarters found that at least 26,540 personnel across all ranks, out of a total strength of 80,070, are aged above 50 years.

During the process, along with the contact numbers of the personnel, their date of birth and place of posting are also fed into the system, a senior officer said.

While all personnel will be covered under the second phase, those above the age of 50 years will be the first ones to get vaccinated, followed by others.

Currently, there are 81 private and government hospitals, where the vaccination drive is being held for health personnel such as doctors, nurses, lab technicians, hospital sanitation staff -- identified under the first category. The drive will be expanded to an additional 600 locations across the city in the coming weeks.

In the second phase, the drive will be held for the front-line workers such as police, fire safety personnel, teachers and civil defence volunteers.

“The candidates for vaccination will be selected at random. The CO-WIN app will choose the police personnel based on their year of birth. These 26,546 personnel will get the vaccines first. We have also given the place of posting of each personnel so that (s)he does not have to travel far on the day of vaccination. The vaccination point nearest to a personnel would be chosen for the exercise,” said the senior police officer quoted above, who did not wish to be named.

Rolling out the vaccination plan for the national capital, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said last month that after health-care and front-line workers, the third category of people who would receive the vaccine are those above the age of 50 years as well those who below the age of 50 but with co-morbid conditions.

Till date, 7,615 police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 while 32 succumbed to the disease. “We have conducted two dry runs across police stations to ensure that there is no hiccup when the time comes. In the coming days, we will keep conducting them and raise awareness across police stations and colonies,” said a second officer, preferring anonymity.