Can vaccinate entire Delhi in 3 months, if we get enough doses, says Kejriwal
A day after ensuring the national capital gets 700 metric tons of medical oxygen required for COVID patients, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday (May 8) that his government can vaccinate the entire capital in three months if he gets around 85 lakh doses a month.
In the last 24 hours, Delhi reported 341 COVID deaths and 19,832 cases, taking the active caseload past the 91,000-mark.
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Kejriwal said about 1 lakh vaccine doses are being administered in the city every day, and the daily figure needs to be increased to 3 lakh. The CM said the number of vaccination centres will be increased three times in Delhi and demanded that the Centre supply around 2.6 crore vaccine doses for inoculation of all people in the national capital in the next three months.
Vaccination is going on at 100 centres in Delhi. The number of centres will be increased to 250-300 by the Delhi government, he said in an online briefing.
“Many people from neighbouring cities — Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Sonipat, Gurugram and Noida — are coming to Delhi to get their Covid shots because they like the arrangements. But we do not have enough vaccines. If we get doses in the right quantity, we can vaccinate the entire national capital in three months,” said Kejriwal on May 8 in a televised press briefing.
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“So far, we have got 40 lakh doses. There are about 1 crore people in the 18-44 age group; a total of 1.5 crore people are above 18 years of age. We need 2.6 crore vaccines in three months. Every month, we need about 80-85 lakh doses. I appeal to the Centre to increase the number of doses for Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
On Friday (May 7), Kekriwal said the city’s oxygen crisis had been resolved. “Now there is shortage of oxygen in Delhi. We should have enough oxygen beds so that no patient is deprived,” he said.
The Supreme Court has told the Centre to ensure 700 tons of medical oxygen for the city every day.
