New Delhi: As the Delhi government gets ready to increase the number of centres and the timings of the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive from Monday onwards, hospitals and district officials are scampering to ration space and staff, creating linkages between dispensaries and nearby hospitals, and mapping ambulance presence.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday had announced that Delhi will increase the number of shots given daily from the exiting 30 to 40 thousand to 125,000. This will be done by increasing the number of sites at each hospital, starting the drive at all dispensaries in the city, and increasing the time slot to 12-hours instead of the current eight hours.
On Saturday, 46,769 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered in the city, which is the highest so far since the drive began in mid-January. So far, nearly 287,000 people over the age of 60 have been administered their first dose and 47,410 people over the age of 45 with comorbidities, according to data shared by the government.
All the Delhi government hospitals have been asked to open at least six vaccination sites from Monday onwards. At the biggest Delhi government-run Lok Nayak hospital, there were already five sites running on the first floor of the out-patient block. Another site will likely be added on the same floor.
{{/usCountry}}All the Delhi government hospitals have been asked to open at least six vaccination sites from Monday onwards. At the biggest Delhi government-run Lok Nayak hospital, there were already five sites running on the first floor of the out-patient block. Another site will likely be added on the same floor.
{{/usCountry}}The hospital is currently looking at staff requirement for the two-shifts needed to run the centres from 9am to 9pm. “We are currently looking at allotting staff for the extended number of centres and extended timings. The district officials have also assured us that they will divert some staff for the same,” said a senior doctor from the hospital.
At the newly inaugurated hospital in Burari, which treats only Covid-19 patients currently, there are five centres running at present. “Another centre will be added on Monday. We have already made the roster for all the six centres to remain open for twelve hours. As the number of Covid-19 cases is low at the moment – we are seeing only ten to fifteen admissions at a time and we have staff to spare for the vaccination centres. If the number of cases goes up, we will have to ask the government for more staff,” said a doctor from the hospital.
The Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, which is the biggest hospital in the trans-Yamuna region, is facing a shortage of staff. The hospital has been grappling with a staff crunch ever since other non-Covid services resumed . Officials said the hospital hardly has staff to spare for the new centres. There are three vaccination centres at the hospital at the moment.
“All our staff is already engaged in non-Covid work; we have asked the district officials to provide more vaccinators but have been told that they cannot spare any either,” said a doctor from the hospital.
A district official said, “We are planning to rope in more vaccinators and train them. Usually, hospitals do not have a shortage of nurses who can administer vaccines, but if they do, then we can provide them the same.”
Sparing vaccinators from districts might also be difficult, with all 260 Delhi-government-run dispensaries scheduled to open up vaccination centres from Monday onwards. Currently, there are about 40 dispensaries that give the Covid-19 shot.
The district officials are currently assessing the space available at the centres for carrying out the vaccination drive. “Almost all the dispensaries have cold chain arrangements because they carry out routine immunisation. However, we are assessing the space available and looking at erecting temporary structures to create the three room space if need be,” said district official.
Over the weekend, the districts will also map out the closest hospitals and ambulance presence in case of an adverse event following immunisation (AEFI). “We are looking at which hospitals are the nearest to every dispensary so that a patient can be taken there if there is an adverse event. Plus, we are also looking at where the nearest ambulance is stationed; each dispensary cannot have one ambulance. There are ambulances available with the SDMs that can be utilised. We will also share an advance list with CATS (Centralised Accident and Trauma Services) to check where their nearest ambulance will be stationed,” said a second district official.
A third district official said, “All hospital – whether government or private – have been told that they cannot refuse anyone who has had an adverse reaction after taking the vaccine.”
can be utilised. We will also share an advance list with CATS (Centralised Accident and Trauma Services) to check where their nearest ambulance will be stationed,” said a second district official.
A third district official said, “All hospital – whether government or private – have been told that they cannot refuse anyone who has had an adverse reaction after taking the vaccine.”