Delhi administers 5k Covid vaccines on Sunday, 40% to kids aged 12-14

A little over 41,000 jabs were given on Saturday, when the numbers crossed the 40,000 mark for the first time in 12 days, again with 38% of the doses being administered to children between the ages of 12 and 14. The drive had not picked up among younger children, who are being administered BiologicalE’s Corbevax, in the first three days. Just over 3,900 shots were administered to those in the age category on the first two days of the drive and none on Holi, which was the third day.

There are more than 6 lakh children in this age group in Delhi. The numbers are likely to pick up this week when camps are organised in schools.

Vaccination figures have been dipping in Delhi since mid-February as the city reached its saturation point in immunising most categories of people, barring those who are yet to get their third precautionary dose. Almost everyone eligible aged 15 and above have received their first dose and 88% have received the second shot as well.

The uptake of the precautionary dose has been slow, with just over 4.57 lakh having received the shot. With the government opening up the drive to all those above 60 years with or without comorbidities, now 21 lakh people over the age of 60 in Delhi, 2.4 lakh healthcare workers and 3.5 lakh frontline workers are eligible for the dose.

“Now that the cases have gone down, vaccination is no longer a priority for people, especially a precaution dose. Even though the drive was recently opened for everyone over the age of 60 years, I do not see the numbers going up because we weren’t really checking for co-morbidities even now. I think the numbers are unlikely to go up till the government promotes it as a booster shot and not a precaution dose,” said an official from Delhi’s health department.