Healthcare workers not on daily list can now get COVID-19 shot

New rule by Central govt. will increase immunisation numbers, say doctors

NEW DELHI, 19/01/2021: A doctor gets shot during a vaccination drive of corona virus at Bhagat Chandra Hospital, Mahavir Enclave near Palam Dwarka Flyover in New Delhi on Tuesday. January 19, 2021.Photo: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR / The Hindu

A total of 4,936 healthcare workers were vaccinated in the national capital on Tuesday — the highest till now, and there were 16 ‘minor’ Adverse Event Following Immunisation, said the Delhi government spokesperson.

This is 48.75% of the target of 10,125 healthcare workers who were to be immunised on Tuesday. Of the 16 AEFI, 15 were people who were vaccinated with Covishield and one with Covaxin.

On Saturday, 4,319 healthcare workers were vaccinated and on Monday the figure was 3,598. A change in rule has helped hospitals get a greater number of healthcare workers vaccinated.

Walk-in vaccination

Though each of the 81 vaccination sites in the city has a list of about 100 beneficiaries to be vaccinated every day, healthcare workers whose names are not on the list, but were registered in the CoWIN platform earlier, are now being vaccinated.

This move follows Central government directions, and officials expect daily number of healthcare workers taking the vaccine to increase.

In a letter to all States, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that the government has allowed an “allot beneficiary” feature in CoWIN app for this change.

“The feature has been added to facilitate maximum utilisation of staff deployed at the session sites so that they can cater to optimal number of beneficiaries per session,” the letter dated Tuesday read.

Only nine people were inoculated on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital. Hospital spokesperson Chhavi Gupta said they will start walk-in vaccination of registered healthcare workers from Thursday.

Lok Nayak Hospital also stated it would follow the new rules from January 21.

At RML Hospital, the number of healthcare workers inoculated daily decreased from 69 on Monday to 27 on Tuesday. On Monday, the number was high as the hospital allowed people who were not on the list to get vaccinated, but this was not allowed on Tuesday.

“The Medical Superintendent, dean, ex-dean, and many heads of departments are getting vaccinated to motivate the staff,” said the public relations officer of RML Hospital.