5.1 million Delhiites to get Covid-19 vaccine, process to identify first recipients began in October

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that the government has identified 5.1 million people who will be administered the vaccine in the first phase in Delhi.

Over one-fourth of Delhi’s population has been identified as belonging to the three “priority groups” that will first receive a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after one is approved by the central government.

Members of ground staff walk past a container stacked at the Cargo Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which will be used as a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccines handling and distribution center during the media preview in New Delhi. (AFP)

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that the government has identified 5.1 million people who will be administered the vaccine in the first phase in Delhi.

“Our health-care workers such as doctors, nurses, paramedic staff and so on will be the first ones to get the vaccine does in Delhi. We have identified 300,000 health-care workers who will be vaccinated,” Kejriwal said at a press briefing.

“Next will be the front-line workers which include police, civil defence volunteers and municipal workers. There are 600,000 such persons. Third category is of those who are 50 years of age or older and those below 50 years who have comorbid conditions. There are 4.2 million persons under the third category,” he said.

The three priority groups were recommended by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC). Across the country, nearly 300 million people in the three categories will receive the vaccine first.

The Delhi government started collecting data on 13 categories of health-care workers in October. At first, the government had asked over 1,200 hospitals and nursing homes in the city-state – both government and private -- registered with it to send in a list of their employees.

“A comprehensive list of over 3,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, administrative, sanitation and security staff working in the hospital has been sent to the government for the vaccine. All of them will be eligible to get the vaccine. If they want; they can refuse it too,” said a senior official from the administration of Lok Nayak Hospital who requested anonymity.

The government also asked the Indian Medical Association to share a list of its registered members to identify those working in stand-alone clinics and health-care centres. After that, the government published an advertisement asking all clinics, including AYUSH and dental facilities, to register their staff on a government portal.

For the list of front-line workers, apart from the categories mentioned by the Centre such as the police force and municipal workers, the Delhi government also identified departments such as electricity and water utilities whose employees were included in the second priority list. The organisations were asked to send information to the government on their staff.

The Delhi government is currently uploading all this information on the centralised digital platform called CoWIN. It is an end-to-end digital network that will help in registering those eligible for a vaccine, tracking those who have been vaccinated, creating a schedule for vaccination, and monitoring the availability of resources on a real-time basis.

As for those above the age of 50 and those below 50 with comorbidities, the government used the electoral rolls and data collected during door-to-door surveys for actively detecting cases of Covid-19 in November-December.

“The aged and those with comorbidities are at the highest risk of developing severe Covid-19, so most of the government’s initiatives have been targeted towards them. The door-to-door survey that was conducted in November already ensured that we have a list of such vulnerable people and now our surveyors are working on updating it,” a senior official from New Delhi district said, requesting anonymity.

Apart from that, the central government will also launch a mobile app connected to the CoWIN platform that will allow people to register for the shots on their own.