Delhi: 51 lakh to get COVID-19 vaccine in first phase
Around 51 lakh people in Delhi will receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. Kejriwal said that all 51 lakh people in the "priority group"—which will include healthcare staff, frontline workers, people with co-morbidities, and those aged above 50—have been identified. He also noted that the pace of the outbreak has slowed in the national capital.
Addressing a virtual press conference on Thursday, Kejriwal said the Delhi government is all set to start the vaccination drive as soon as it gets the vaccine from the central government. He said registration is underway for three priority categories: three lakh health workers, six lakh frontline workers, and 42 lakh of those aged above 50 and those below 50 but having co-morbidities.
The CM said that the people who are being registered to receive the vaccine will be informed through text messages about their date, time, and place of vaccination. To conduct the vaccination drive, the necessary staff, officials, and health workers have also been identified and trained for the vaccination drive, Kejriwal said. The sites for vaccination are also being readied, he added.
Each person will receive two doses of the vaccine, i.e., Delhi will require a total of 1.02 crore doses for the first phase of vaccination in Delhi, Kejriwal said. As of now, the national capital has the capacity to store up to 74 lakh doses, he added. The storage capacity will be increased to up to 1.15 crore within a week.
Kejriwal said the COVID-19 situation in Delhi has improved significantly, with the daily positivity rate dropping to 1% on Wednesday. As of Tuesday, the latest available update, Delhi reported a total of 6,19,618 COVID-19 infections, with 871 new cases recorded over a 24-hour period. The death toll in the national capital stood at 10,347, while the recovery rate has climbed to 97%.
