The third and the largest phase of vaccination against Covid-19 began in Delhi on Monday. People in the 18-45 age group are being given jabs against the deadly virus. Around 90 lakh people in this category will be eligible for the jabs. Pre-registration has been made mandatory for beneficiaries in the 18-45 age group and there will be no walk-ins for this category for now.
Five vaccination booths each have been set up at 77 schools for the inoculation exercise. The government has set up vaccination centres at schools to accommodate a high number of beneficiaries.
Notably, three big private hospital chains Apollo, Fortis and Max have already started vaccinating people in the 18-45 age group at limited centres from Saturday.
1.34 crore vaccine doses
The Delhi government has placed orders for 1.34 crore vaccine doses with manufactures which will be delivered over the next three months. Of these, 67 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine are being procured from Pune-based Serum Institute of India. The first tranche of three lakh doses would reach Delhi in the first week of May.
Around 1.5 crore people are targeted to be vaccinated in Delhi, of which 32 lakh have received at least one dose so far. The Delhi government is taking the help of the voters' list to ascertain the number of eligible beneficiaries. According to it, there are around 60 lakh people aged above 45 years.
Plan to vaccinate all adults in 3 months
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Thursday said a plan has been formulated to vaccinate all adults against coronavirus within the next three months. He had said everybody aged above 18 would be administered COVID-19 vaccines free of cost in Delhi.
A government official had told PTI that inoculation of the 18-45 age group is likely to have a moderate start and will be ramped up gradually. Vaccine will be delivered to the city government in phases. Private hospitals will have to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers, he had said.
Meanwhie, the Centre will continue to provide vaccine for those aged above 45 years.
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