COVID-19: Delhi to vaccinate all above 45 within 4 weeks
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday launched a new mass vaccination drive—called Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination—for immunizing everyone above the age of 45 years in the national capital against COVID-19 within the coming four weeks. As part of this campaign, the Delhi Government will turn polling stations into vaccination centers, ensuring everyone above 45 receives at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Here's more.
CM Kejriwal announced that starting June 8, Block Level Officer-led teams and Civil Defense Volunteers will visit every house across Delhi's 280 civic wards for allotting vaccination slots to those above 45. They will visit 70 wards weekly—covering all 280 wards in four weeks. The teams will also encourage people hesitant to take the vaccine and explain its importance in the fight against COVID-19.
"A special drive for the vaccination of...the 45+ category is being launched...our objective is, ensure that the entire population of such citizens in Delhi will be vaccinated in the coming four weeks," Kejriwal said. On the reason behind launching this, he said, "Our vaccination centers for the 45+ category are witnessing low turnout because of their locations. So...we will create centers at the booth-level."
दिल्ली में योजनाबद्ध तरीके से बूथ स्तर पर वैक्सीन लगाने की तैयारी। आज से “जहाँ वोट, वहाँ वैक्सिनेशन” अभियान शुरू हो रहा है। जहाँ वोट डाली थी, वहीं जाकर वैक्सीन लगवाएं | Press Conference LIVE https://t.co/9ynDc4gTNO
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 7, 2021
Kejriwal said many people in the 45+ age group weren't turning up for vaccination and hence the government will directly reach out to them. The concerned teams will also check whether registered people have turned up at the vaccination centers. He said eligible beneficiaries can receive the jab at their nearby polling centers, adding e-rickshaws will also be arranged for those who require transportation.
Kejriwal also noted that Delhi currently has over 57 lakh people aged above 45 years, and about 27 lakh of them have already received at least one dose of the vaccine—meaning around 30 lakh people would get immunized under this campaign. To note, the national capital has enough Covishield doses to inoculate the 45+ age group for 27 days, stated Delhi's vaccination bulletin.
Kejriwal expressed confidence that after this exercise, everyone above 45 in Delhi will have received at least one shot of the vaccine, adding once they're eligible for the second dose, a similar exercise will be conducted to ensure their full vaccination. He further said a similar exercise to vaccinate the 18-44 age group within two months will be launched once they procure enough doses.
Notably, Delhi has been witnessing a steady decline in the number of fresh COVID-19 infections over the past few days and has even started lifting some of the restrictions in place as part of the unlocking process from Monday. Delhi has registered 381 new cases and 34 fatalities on Sunday. And, after nearly three months, its positivity rate also came down to 0.5%.
