Enthusiastic start to inoculation of all above 45 years, many centres achieve 100% target

Hospitals and dispensaries across the city saw long queues outside Covid-19 vaccination centres on Thursday, when the city’s immunisation drive was opened up to all those who are above the age of 45 years

Hospitals and dispensaries across the city saw long queues outside Covid-19 vaccination centres on Thursday, when the city’s immunisation drive was opened up to all those who are above the age of 45 years. To ensure maximum turnout, Delhi government-run hospitals are informing patients arriving for doctor consultations about the inoculation drive and urging them to take the jab, and also inviting residents’ welfare associations to book bulk slots for entire societies.

The city plans to immunise everyone in this age group within 40 days. (AFP)

So far, only people above the age of 60 years and those between the ages of 45 and 59 years with a combination of 20 specified comorbidities were being administered the Covid-19 vaccine. There are nearly 4.5 million people between the ages of 45 and 59 living in Delhi, health minister Satyendar Jain had said on Wednesday.

The city plans to immunise everyone in this age group within 40 days.

“The government has set a target of immunising everyone over the age of 45 years within the next 40 days. To ensure that this happens, we will start creating more and more vaccination centres, training more vaccinators to man these centres, keeping centres open for 12 hours, and motivating people to come and get immunised,” said a senior official from Delhi’s health department, asking not to be named.

The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Vasant Kunj has sent out invitations to all residents’ welfare associations in neighbouring areas to book bulk slots for those living in their societies. “Initially, when the drive opened to those above the age of 60 years and those above the age of 45 with comorbidities, we had immunised over 800 to 900 people a day, but the numbers dwindled gradually. This time, we have invited RWAs to book slots for residents to come and get the shot,” said Dr SK Sarin, director, ILBS.

The number of people being immunised at trans-Yamuna region’s Guru Teg Bahadur hospital jumped by nearly 150 on Thursday. “We had people queuing up outside the vaccination sites since morning -- usually the sites are not full even by 11am. The hospital vaccinated over 400 people today (Thursday),” said Dr RS Rautela, medical director, Guru Teg Bahadur hospital.

He said doctors in the out-patient clinics are now routinely telling all patients over the age of 45 years to get vaccinated. “I’m urging more and more people to get the shot. There are very minor adverse events such as body ache or redness at the site of injection,” Dr Rautela said.

At Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital, which has immunised over 10,000 people so far, announcements are being made in the out-patient clinic urging people to get vaccinated. “In addition to doctors advising their patients, we are also making announcements in the OPD urging people to get their shot the same day once they are done with their consultation. Sometimes, patients do not have their ID cards on them; we ask them to bring them when they come next to give their samples or collect medicines,” said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak Hospital.

Other than that, there are five persons posted at each of the floors of the hospital OPD imparting to people information about the vaccines.

An official from the east district said on condition of anonymity, “Today, there was a lot of enthusiasm among people and we saw over 100% vaccination at many of our sites. However, that was the case when the drive was opened to those above the age of 60 years and those above 45 with comorbidities. But, the turnout gradually dwindled. This time around, maybe we can sustain the pace because people are now scared by the increasing number of Covid infections. But we also need to create awareness among people.”

Talking about the awareness campaign, he said, “We have a list of all the people over the age of 45 years in our area, and we are sending them text messages. The booth level officers have been asked to call at least 10 people daily and urge them to get vaccinated. The ASHA (accredited social health activists) and ANMs (auxiliary nurse-midwives) are going door to door to motivate people. In addition, we are distributing pamphlets with information on how to get registered and nearby vaccination centres. We are making announcements through police speakers in marketplaces as well on the speaker system on garbage vans.”