Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said Delhi was not getting an adequate number of COVID-19 vaccine doses. While the Capital needed three crore doses, he said only 40 lakh had been received.
He requested the Central government to provide Delhi with the required number of vaccine doses and urged it to approve vaccination for children below 18 years of age.
As many as 1 lakh vaccine doses were being administered in the city on a daily basis at the moment but the stock currently at the Delhi government’s disposal was enough for just 5 to 6 days, the Chief Minister said.
1 lakh jabs daily
“The people are visibly happy with the arrangements made by the government. We have made these arrangements in around 100 schools and are going to increase it to about 250-300 schools. Today, in Delhi, approximately 1 lakh vaccines are being administered daily – around 50,000 to those below 45 and about 50,000 to those above 45,” he said at a digital press briefing.
If the Delhi government got the “adequate” number of doses, he said, it would be able to vaccinate the entire population of the city in three months.
Of its population of 2 crore, the Chief Minister said, more or less 1 crore people fell in the age group of 18-45, 50 lakh were under 18 and 50 lakh were older than 45, which meant that there were roughly 1.5 crore citizens above the age of 18.
“These 1.5 crore people have to be given three crore vaccines, which is our requirement. Out of these three crore vaccines, the Delhi government, as of now, has received approximately 40 lakh vaccines. Therefore we need 2 crore 60 lakh additional vaccines. If these are made available to us, every person in Delhi can get vaccinated within three months,” he said.
However, Mr. Kejriwal said, the government would probably need more than this number since people from the National Capital Region were coming to Delhi to get vaccinated.
The minimum requirement of Delhi too needed to be met, he said, appealing to the Centre to make available a sufficient number of vaccine doses to the Delhi government.
Shots for children
The Chief Minister said he was also concerned about the vaccination of citizens below the age of 18.
“We are particularly concerned about children. Youngsters and children under 18 cannot get vaccinated right now. I appeal to all experts and the Centre to arrange a vaccine for them too so that they can also get inoculated,” he said.
“As of today, we have 5-6 days of vaccine left that we are rapidly administering. I hope that the adequate vaccine is sanctioned for the people of Delhi as soon as possible,” he said.
