Delhi govt starts vaccinating Tihar inmates in 18-44 age group

The west Delhi district has set up an outreach site in Tihar jail for the vaccination drive. The move comes after director general (prisons) Sandeep Goel wrote to the state government, requesting it to start vaccinating inmates in the age group of 18-44 years.

The west Delhi district on Tuesday started vaccinating Tihar jail inmates in the 18-44 age group and, according to district officials, around 100 inmates were vaccinated on Day One of the drive. The officials said there are around 11,000-12,000 in this age group at Tihar currently.

The government has recently started vaccinating all inmates who are aged 45 and above at the three jails of Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini. (HT Archives)

The west Delhi district has set up an outreach site in Tihar jail for the vaccination drive. The move comes after director general (prisons) Sandeep Goel wrote to the state government, requesting it to start vaccinating inmates in the age group of 18-44 years.

Ishaan Sharma, officer on special duty (vaccination), west Delhi district, said, “As a special case, we have started vaccinating inmates in the 18-44 age group in Tihar. We have deputed a team for this purpose. There are around 11,000-12,000 inmates who are in this category. The district administration decided to vaccinate them on priority as they could become a super-spreader group, given the close proximity in which live inside the prison.”

According to west Delhi district officials, inmates are allowed to register on the spot at the vaccination site. Sharma said, “As a special case, we have taken permission from the state government for on-site registration for inmates. These people don’t have access to the CoWin portal. So, they can just walk in and get registered for a shot. We have set a daily vaccination target of 200 at this site.”

West Delhi is the first revenue district to have set up an outreach vaccination site for the 18-44 age group, the vaccination for which category started on May 1.

The government has recently started vaccinating all inmates who are aged 45 and above at the three jails of Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini. Until Tuesday, 1, 472 inmates in three jail complexes –1,089 (including 49 who received second shot of the vaccine) in Tihar, 112 in Rohini and 271 in Mandoli—have been vaccinated.

An official from Shahdara district, under which comes the Mandoli prison, said on condition of anonymity, “We are currently vaccinating people in the 45+ category. So far, no decision has been taken on vaccinating inmates in the 18-44 age group.”

In the past one week, at least 1,700 inmates from the three prisons, both convicts and under trials, have been released on interim bail or emergency parole for 90 days in an effort to decongest prisons. They will have to surrender after 90 days in case their parole or interim bail is not extended.

Until last month, the three prisons collectively had 20,500 prisoners, while the sanctioned capacity is only 10,026.

The three jail complexes, which currently house around 18,000 prisoners, have reported six deaths due to Covid-19 in the past two months. Last year, two prisoners had died of Covid-19. The jail authorities said the jail hospital at each complex is being used as a vaccination site.

The spread of the Covid infection inside Tihar has been more severe during the second wave of the pandemic, as compared to the first one. In February, there was not a single case of Covid-19 among prisoners or jail officials. Even until April 6, the jail had only 19 cases of Covid-19 among prisoners. But in the past one month, Tihar has reported over 300 Covid-19 cases among prisoners, said jail officials.

“The cases are under control now. We have around 79 positive cases among inmates. Last month, when Delhi was reporting a positivity rate of over 30℅, we have around 290 positive cases. Now with a few prisoners released, and more waiting to be released, the situation is much better,” said a prison officer, who wished not to be named.