Delhi govt may shut down some vaccination centres amid dipping daily dose figures

Delhi administered 3,907 doses of Corbevax to children of the 12 to 14 age group Thursday, slightly lower than the number of shots administered on the first day of the drive for this category.

Written by Anonna Dutt

New Delhi | Updated: March 18, 2022 03:55 PM IST

3 min read

Officials have said that the drop in the number of people getting immunised in February and March is because Delhi has reached a saturation level in the eligible population. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

With vaccination reaching a saturation point in Delhi and the number of shots each day continuing its downward slide, the government is soon likely to take a decision on shutting down a few centres, especially those that were opened at schools.

Delhi administered 3,907 doses of Corbevax to children of the 12 to 14 age group Thursday, slightly lower than the number of shots administered on the first day of the drive for this category. There were 3,937 shots administered Wednesday despite the government portal CoWIN not showing slots for it till afternoon. The numbers are likely to pick up only after Holi when the districts will organise camps at schools.

“Currently, children are on vacation and many are out of the city as well. So, the vaccination count is lower. Hopefully, the numbers will increase once the drives begin at schools. We have already reached out to the department of education to check with schools and give us a schedule on when the camps can be organised,” said a Delhi government official.

Thursday, Delhi administered a total of 17,569 doses of vaccine, according to the CoWIN portal, sliding down further from the average 28,000 shots given every day this week.

The official added, “A file has already been moved on closing down all the vaccination centres in the schools. Now, very few people are coming to take the shots. Earlier, where a district would see 10,000 shots a day, now they are administering 1,000 shots a day. The centres at the schools were started when online teaching was on. Now, vaccinations will only be carried out in camp modes for the school children and fixed vaccination sites at schools where other people can also come and get their shots will be discontinued.”

Number of takers of the precautionary dose has also been low, with just over 4,53,000 having received the dose. With the government opening up the drive for all those who are above 60 years with or without co-morbidities, now 2.1 million people over the age of 60 years in Delhi, 2,40,000 healthcare workers and 3,50,000 frontline workers are eligible for the dose.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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