Covid vaccine jabs at Mohalla clinics within two weeks: Govt

A senior Delhi government official said that a designated space has been identified within most Mohalla Clinics and staff members are being trained in various aspects of the vaccination process.

The Delhi government is planning to add the first batch of Mohalla Clinics to the list of Covid-19 vaccination centres within the next fortnight, with an aim to boost to the Capital’s inoculation numbers, senior officials said on Wednesday.

Covid vaccine jabs at Mohalla clinics within two weeks: Govt (AP)

A senior Delhi government official said that a designated space has been identified within most Mohalla Clinics and staff members are being trained in various aspects of the vaccination process.

“This training involves managing the crowd, streamlining them and counselling them before and after the shots are administered. Essentially, they will have to ensure that all the vaccination protocol is followed. Many clinics have marked space that will be exclusively used for vaccination so that the process does not interfere with the regular functioning of the clinic,” said a senior official on the condition of anonymity.

The official said that the government is aiming to upload at least the first batch of 150 Mohalla Clinics on the government’s CoWin portal so that people can easily find these centres. Walk-in vaccinations will also be conducted in these centres.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the city’s health minister, announced last month that the government will open up Mohalla Clinics as vaccination centres. Delhi currently has 520 Mohalla Clinics, all of which will eventually be converted into vaccination centres in phases.

“Delhi has adopted the multi-pronged strategy to achieve optimal coverage of vaccination of all eligible beneficiaries. Vaccination is being provided in a mission mode, but still, a cohort of the population for the second dose and a significantly higher cohort are due for the newly added precaution dose. The addition of vaccination centres at Mohalla Clinics will help us achieve the higher vaccination target soon,” the minister has said.

According to the CoWin dashboard, Delhi has so far administered 35,148,504 vaccine doses. Out of this, 18,130,536 were first doses, 15,302,316 were second and 1,715,652 were the third booster doses. While the city has seen good coverage for the first and the second dose of Covid vaccines, the pace of the booster doses has been slow, Delhi government officials admitted.

Health department officials said the addition of these Mohalla Clinics will make up for the centres they lost since schools were resumed across the city.

Till April this year, the Delhi government had over 1,200 vaccination centres across the city, which went down to around 500-600 after vaccination points at Delhi government schools were closed off.

“If we can add at least the first phase of Mohalla Clinics to our existing vaccination centres when the Covid cases in the city start coming down, we will be able to provide a fresh push to the government’s vaccination drive,” said another state health official.