Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded the Centre to supply of around 2.6 crore vaccine doses for inoculation of all people above the age of 18 in the national Capital in the next three months.
“Delhi is not getting an adequate amount of vaccines and if it were to get the required amount of doses then the Delhi Government will be able to vaccinate all within three months,” he said.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal said that in Delhi’s two crore population, more or less 1 crore fall in the 18-44 age group, 50 lakh are under-18 and 50 lakh are above 45. Therefore roughly 1.5 crore people are above 18, he said, adding that over three crore doses will be required to vaccinate all people in Delhi, out of which around 40 lakh have already been received.
The Chief Minister requested the Central Government to provide Delhi with the required amount of vaccines. He said that vaccination is the only Suraksha Chakra that can stop the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India.
“Today, in Delhi, approximately 1 lakh vaccines are being administered daily - around 50,000 to those below 45 and about 50,000 to those above 45. Thus, more or less one lakh vaccines are being administered daily in Delhi. Due to good arrangements in Delhi, people from NCR towns like Noida, Ghaziabad were also reaching here to get the vaccines. So, Delhi will require a little more than three crore doses, he said.
“We have been reading reports that the Prime Minister’s principal scientific advisor has issued an advisory, a warning of sorts that a third wave is looming at large. The Supreme Court has also expressed its concerns on this and naturally the general public is extremely anxious about this considering that the second wave has proven to be very dangerous. Therefore, to protect ourselves from the third wave, a complete vaccination drive is imperative to protect ourselves from the third wave,” he said. “The Delhi Government is making efforts in this direction. I’m hopeful that the Central Government will provide assistance. We are particularly concerned about children. Youngsters and children under 18 cannot get vaccinated right now.
I appeal to all experts and the Centre to arrange a vaccine for them too so that they can also get inoculated. As of today, we have 5-6 days of vaccine left that we are rapidly administering. I hope that the adequate vaccine is sanctioned for the people of Delhi as soon as possible,” he added.