Delhi govt goes extra mile in Covid-19 vaccination drive

During the conversation, Tripathi opened up. He told the officers that he had heard somewhere that the vaccines have led to a large number of cases of glaucoma.

Groups of booth level officers (BLO) and their teams comprising civil defence volunteers spread across Burari locality in north Delhi on Tuesday afternoon. As they navigated the narrow lanes, visiting shops and knocking on doors of residents, they engaged with a large number of people aged above 45 years who are yet to be take their Covid-19 vaccine.

According to government records, Delhi has around 5.7 million people who are aged above 45, of which around 2.56 million have taken one dose of Covid-19 vaccines and more than 860,000 have taken a second dose.

“I have recently recovered from Covid-19. I do not have to take the vaccine for at least three months now,” said Aman Tyagi, a property dealer, as the group of officers approached him at his office in the locality. While Tyagi had a legitimate reason, his neighbour Brij Tripathi showed some hesitance without citing a proper reason.

During the conversation, Tripathi opened up. He told the officers that he had heard somewhere that the vaccines have led to a large number of cases of glaucoma. The officials convinced him that it was a myth and booked a vaccine slot for him in the nearest government school – where people in the locality cast their votes during elections – for Thursday.

These teams are part of a government initiative – Jahan vote, wahan vaccination – aimed at increasing vaccine coverage against Covid-19 among the 45+ age group in four weeks. It was launched by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.

According to government records, Delhi has around 5.7 million people who are aged above 45, of which around 2.56 million have taken one dose of Covid-19 vaccines and more than 860,000 have taken a second dose.

On Tuesday, several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs joined the initiative and accompanied door-to-door drives in their respective assembly constituencies.

“I appeal to representatives of RWAs, youth groups, women’s groups, market associations, NGOs and religious organisations to do their bit in encouraging citizens aged 45+ to get vaccinated at local polling booths in their assembly constituency,” said Delhi’s food minister Imran Hussain, who was one of the AAP MLAs who joined the drive in his constituency, Ballimaran, on Tuesday.

AAP MLA from Kalkaji, Atishi said, “In the 45+ group, Delhi’s vaccine coverage touched 50% with a sharp rise in the graph which eventually plateaued. During the drive today, we have come across a lot of cases in which people aged 45+ have not taken the vaccines because they have recently had Covid-19. But then there were people too who were hesitant. We are sure that setting up vaccine centres closer to their residences will help increase turnout and more vaccine coverage in the coming days.”

Kejriwal said on Monday that the Delhi government has activated all its 13,000 booth level officers (BLOs) for this drive. Delhi has around 280 wards. Under the initiative, 70 wards will be chosen every week. On Monday, the government started with wards located in assembly segments that include Kalkaji, Ballimaran, Timarpur and Burari. Under the initiative, temporary vaccine centres are to be set up in polling booths of localities chosen every week.