Survey identifies most vulnerable for Covid shot

The government has already asked all hospitals, nursing homes, and stand-alone clinics in the city to get their employees registered for the vaccine shots.

Data collected during the currently underway door-to-door survey in hot spots and containment zones will be used to identify those above the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities as both categories of people will be next in line, after the health care and front-line workers, to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, sources in the health department said.

An employee in personal protective equipment (PPE) removes vials of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from a visual inspection machine inside a lab at Serum Institute of India, in Pune. (REUTERS)

The government has already asked all hospitals, nursing homes, and stand-alone clinics in the city to get their employees registered for the vaccine shots. “More than 2 lakh registrations have come for the first trial of the Covid-19 vaccine in Delhi. The priority is health care and front-line workers. After which the focus will be on the aged, and subsequently, the entire population of Delhi, said health minister Satyendar Jain.

According to the recommendations of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), 10 million health care workers, 20 million front-line workers, and 270 million people over the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities will be the priority groups to receive the vaccine.

The vaccination drives could be conducted simultaneously for all three priority groups, depending on availability of the shots.

Currently, India’s regulator is looking at emergency use authorisation for three vaccines – one, developed by Pfizer and BioNtech; second, by Oxford and AstraZeneca which will be manufactured and distributed in India by the Serum Institute of India; and the third, the indigenously developed Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research

A line list – with details like name, address, phone numbers – of those in line for the vaccine will be uploaded to the national digital CoWIN platform to help the government in tracking the vaccine drives.

“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,” said a senior official from New Delhi district.

In November third week, the Delhi government had initiated a massive survey, covering 5.73 million people, to identify those with symptoms of Covid or a history of contact with a Covid patient.

Over 13,500 people were found to be symptomatic of Covid among those surveyed.

The officials were asked to continue the survey till at least December 31 as new containment zones and hot spots are constantly being identified.

“The database created during the survey will also be compared and merged with the voter rolls and the data with dispensaries to create a list of people who will receive the vaccine when it becomes available,” said an official from the west district.

Once the Delhi government issues an order, the collection of data from outside the hot spots and containment zones will begin.