Over 166,000 get Covid-19 jabs in Delhi as drive hits another one-day high

As of 8.30pm on Friday, the state government administered 166,102 vaccine doses, up from 157,086 on Thursday and 109,358 the previous day, showed data from the central government’s CoWin dashboard.

The state government on Friday administered over 166,000 coronavirus vaccine doses on Friday, the highest in a single day for the third consecutive time, days after the launch of the new phase of inoculations across the country, said a senior government officer.

A camp at a homeless shelter near Kashmere Gate. (HT Photo)

As of 8.30pm on Friday, the state government administered 166,102 vaccine doses, up from 157,086 on Thursday and 109,358 the previous day, showed data from the central government’s CoWin dashboard.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Atishi, while presenting the government’s vaccine bulletin in a video press briefing on Friday, said, “Increasing vaccine centres and providing walk-in options have increased turnout at centres. The younger population — in the 18-45 age group — is eager to get vaccinated and they often bring along the elders in their family, which is contributing to reduced hesitancy and greater turnout.”

The Capital currently has 1,374 centres, all of which offer vaccines to all adults in the city, after the state government removed age restrictions for these sites. Most of these sites also allow on-spot registrations.

Atishi, the party’s MLA from Kalkaji, however, added that Covaxin doses are limited to those due for their second shot, owing to a shortage of supplies.

“Currently, due to limited availability of vaccines, we are offering only a second dose of Covaxin. Under this policy, the government-run centres in the city have 13 days’ stock of Covaxin. The centres also have five days’ stock of Covishield,” she said.

So far, 5.45 million people in the city have received at least one dose of the vaccine, of which around 1.66 million have received both doses. Delhi has an adult population of around 15 million, showed government records.

VACCINES FOR HOMELESS

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (Dusib) on Friday launched a vaccination drive for homeless people in the city, a large number of whom do not have access to requisite documentation to get inoculated.

On Friday, a temporary vaccination centre was set up near Nigambodh Ghat in north Delhi, where 150 homeless people were given a dose of Covishield. The area has a cluster of homeless shelters in close proximity. The vaccine site will remain over the weekend too, said a senior official in the Dusib.

“Most homeless people do not have documents, so we had to make a special arrangement. Caretakers of the Dusib shelters have been notified as nodal officers and their documents are being used to vaccinate homeless people, after registering them in the concerned shelters. Each nodal officer can provide documents for multiple beneficiaries. The current rules of the Union government allow such special arrangements aimed at boosting vaccination,” said Dusib chairperson Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.

The official also said that the government will on Saturday start another centre for the city’s homeless at Dandi Park opposite the Hanuman Mandir in Kashmere Gate.

While around 5,200 homeless people live in the 200-odd Dusib sites, the city, according to a survey by the shelters body in 2018, has at least 16,000 homeless people.