Delhi geared up for Covid vaccination rollout today

Inoculation drive at 81 centres including AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and RML Hospital; to kick off from LNJP Hospital

New Delhi, Jan. 15: The national capital is all set for the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination exercise on Saturday at 81 centres with healthcare workers who have been in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic to be given the shots first.

The inoculation drive will be kicked off from the state-run LNJP Hospital with a simple ceremony in the presence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

The 81 sites include six central government facilities — AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals. The rest 75 centres, spanning all 11 districts of Delhi, include Delhi government-run facilities such as LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital,

BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital, and private facilities such as Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

A senior official on Thursday had said Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield will be administered at 75 centres while Bharat Biotech-made Covaxin doses will be given at the remaining six facilities. However, he did not clarify which of these hospitals will be the six centres where the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech will be used.

Kejriwal has said the Delhi government is fully prepared for the vaccination rollout starting January 16, with over 8,000 healthcare workers to be given the shots every scheduled day in the national capital.

The city government has received in total 2.74 lakh doses of the vaccine so far from the Centre, which would be sufficient to cater to 1.2 lakh healthcare workers, he said.

“Every person will receive two doses, and the Centre has given 10 per cent extra in stock, in case of any mishappening, like damage of vials. There are a total of 2.4 lakh healthcare workers in Delhi who have registered for vaccination, and more doses are expected to arrive soon,” he said.

The vaccine will be administered on four days of the week — Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It will not be given on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays when other regular vaccination work will be carried out. Each day 100 persons will be administered the vaccine at a site, he said and hoped the people of Delhi and the rest of the country will finally get rid of the virus after facing hardships for past several months.

Delhi has recorded over 6.31 lakh Covid-19 cases and 10,722 coronavirus deaths till Thursday, out of which 6,17,930 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated. On Friday, the city recorded 295 fresh infections, the lowest in more than eight months.

◗ The city government has received in total 2.74 lakh doses of the vaccine so far from the Centre, which would be sufficient to cater to 1.2 lakh healthcare workers, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

◗ Delhi recorded 10 deaths and 295 Covid-19 infections on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months.