Delhi administers only 500 Covid-19 vaccine doses on Republic Day

Delhi has already administered over 169 lakh first doses in adults as against an estimated nearly 150 lakh eligible people over the age of 18 years, completing 100 per cent coverage. Around 122 lakh second doses have also been administered so far, covering 81 per cent of the adult population.

The drive for children has covered 7,74,387 people so far but administered only 57 doses in the category on Republic Day. Around 71.5 per cent of the estimated eligible population has received their first shot of Covaxin, which is the only vaccine in the vaccination programme available for children currently. The interval between two Covaxin doses is four to six weeks, meaning the drive for the administration of the second dose in children should begin next month.

The government also opened the drive for precaution doses on January 10 for healthcare workers, frontline workers, and people over the age of 60 years with comorbidities. So far, 2,34,712 precaution doses have been administered in Delhi, of which 256 were administered on Republic Day.

One of the reasons for slower vaccination is that many people are getting infected with Covid during the current surge. The second or the precautionary dose of the vaccine can be administered only three months after a person has tested positive for Covid-19 as per the guidelines of the central government.

There are nearly 2,40,000 healthcare workers, 3,50,000 frontline workers, and 3,80,000 people over the age of 60 years with comorbidities in Delhi who are eligible for the precaution dose.