Covid-19 vaccination for youth to halt from next week due to shortage: Delhi govt

Atishi made a humble appeal to the centre to supply sufficient Covid-19 vaccines for those between the 18-44 age group as the second wave saw a lot of young people getting critical, and their vaccination is imperative to protect people.

Delhi government on Tuesday said Covid-19 vaccination for adults in the age bracket of 18-44 years will be halted from next week due to the shortage of shots in the national capital. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi announced that the vaccination process for the youth would have to be paused starting next week as the city is left with Covishield's stock for only three more days while Covaxin is already out of stock. Centres administering vaccines to the youth will be temporarily shut from next week, she added.

A total of 4,694,970 have received a vaccine dose in Delhi so far, of which more than 1 million are fully vaccinated with both shots. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times)

"For the 18-44 age bracket, we have been reiterating a number of times in the past few days that Covaxin’s stock is almost over, and Covishield’s stock is left only for 3 days. We can vaccinate those between 18-44 only for the next 3 days, that is until this week only. Starting the next week, vaccination for the youth will be halted due to shortage of vaccines," Atishi said while presenting the vaccination bulletin during the video address.

She appealed to the Centre to provide sufficient vaccine doses for the people in the age bracket of 18-44 years citing the critical impact of the second wave of the pandemic on the younger generation.

Atishi also praised the Centre for supplying a fresh stock of 60,240 doses of Covaxin on Tuesday for people aged above 45 years, healthcare and frontline workers

Atishi made a humble appeal to the centre to supply sufficient vaccines for those between the 18-44 age group as the second wave saw a lot of young people getting critical, and their vaccination is imperative to protect people. After the new supply, Covaxin's stock for people over the age of 45 years and healthcare and frontline workers is left for two days, while Covishield's stock will last for four days.

"A meagre population of 7 lakh youth between 18-44 have been inoculated with the first dose. Hence, it is a humble request to the centre to supply sufficient vaccines for the 18-44 segment as well at the earliest," she said.

Regarding the Delhi government's efforts to boost the vaccination drive in the national capital Atishi said that walk-ins for those over the age of 45 years have commenced on Monday in nearly 100 government schools, and more such centres will take walk-ins. The initiative has been taken since a lot of people do not have smartphones or are not equipped to do the online registration process.

113,142 vaccine doses were administered on May 17, of which over 67,000 were administered to people in the age group of 18-44 years and 45,655 doses were given to people over 45, health care workers and frontline workers. A total of 4,694,970 have received a vaccine dose in Delhi so far, of which more than 1 million are fully vaccinated with both shots and over 3.6 million have received their first dose of the vaccine, the AAP leader informed.