On the fifth day of vaccination in the city on Saturday, a total of 6,967 healthcare workers were vaccinated, which is the highest till now. Also, there were 24 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI), said the Delhi government spokesperson.
The number of people vaccinated on Saturday was 86% of the target of 8,100 for the day, with some centres achieving 100% turnout, officials said. Several hospitals, including Delhi government-run Lok Nayak, Rajiv Gandhi, State Cancer Institute, and GTB hospitals, reported 100% achievement of the targeted vaccination, the officials said.
On the first day of vaccination on January 16, 4,319 healthcare workers were vaccinated. On Monday, the figure was 3,598, on Tuesday it was 4,936 and 5,942 on Thursday. Of the 24 AEFI on Thursday, 23 were “minor” cases and one was “severe”.
On Saturday, 23 AEFI were from using Covishield and one from Covaxin.
While 22 cases from using Covishield were “minor”, one was “severe”.
The increase in the number of vaccinations is due to better trust, change in policy allowing people not in the daily list of beneficiaries to also get vaccinated, according to officials.
Also, currently, the vaccination is being undertaken only in 81 healthcare facilities and workers in other hospitals have been allowed to get vaccinated in these centres at least in some of the 11 districts. “This has also led to more people getting vaccinated,” an official said.
The city is currently inoculating about 2.4 lakh healthcare workers, whose names have been registered with the government, and it is voluntary. The vaccination will now continue from Monday.
The vaccination drive is likely to pick up the pace in the coming days with the Delhi government increasing the number of centres to over 175, officials said.